Good Goose

Last night I had my second taste of Goose Island’s specialty series of beers. These are sold only in 4 packs and are essentially seasonals on steroids. I’m not a Goose fan in general however last summer during our trip to Chicago we did visit their Clybourn pub and I thoroughly enjoyed it. That being said I was hesitant when I picked up my first 4 pack a couple months ago. Demolition is described as a golden ale brewed with Saaz and Styrian Golden hops. At 8% abv this is a wonderfully drinkable, smooth beer. This past weekend on a trip to restock at the Cellar’s in Eagan two new 4 packs caught my eye. One was a Belgian, Pere Jacques, which didn’t interest me too much but the other was Bourbon County Stout. My interest was piqued and confirmed after talking to the fine folks at Cellar’s. This is no drinking beer, kids! This is a sipping beer to be sure. After aging in bourbon barrels for 100 days, this stout weighs in at 13% abv and is one to savor. Mag thought it belonged in the same category as Barley John’s Rosie’s and I’d have to agree. So if you’re looking for a well done, high alcohol brew give this one a try. Goose might be one of the bigger boys but they still know how to do it right.

Firkin Fest - Well Worth the Hangover

Well, from my perspective, the Happy Gnome's Firkin Fest was a success. And I think Kris, Kat, and Scott would agree. I didn't mind, at all, that it appeared Firkin Fest was an afterthought from the St. Patty's celebration the day before. I mean, they already had the tent up and porta-potties primed. The crowd was pretty small and well mannered. For $20, I got more to drink than I really needed on a Sunday...or any day for that matter. And Kris and I got to see many friends. $20 got you 16 tickets (1 4 oz. pour per ticket) plus an additional ticket you could use to get a sample of Surly 2. Of course, I don't think anyone actually paid attention to whether or not you gave a ticket per drink. Kris' favorite beer and the one I thought was most interesting was Summit's Oatmeal Stout made with Belgian brettanomyces (yeast). The yeast gave the beer a distinctive, and not unpleasant, cheese smell. The flavor was pretty interesting as well. Of course, I'm not sure if it was supposed to smell like cheese, but then again, I'M not supposed to smell like cheese, but who cares? I was happy to hear that many of our beer friends at Firkin Fest are also going to be at Gitchee Gumee.

Of course, we couldn't just stop at Firkin Fest. We decided to head up to Barley John's after Firkin Fest to take part in their anniversary celebration. They had a nice fire going to take the chill off the March Sunday and, of course, I stood too close to it. There was a nice crowd there and we saw many faces from Firkin Fest. And we continued to drink. Oh boy.

Needless to say, my headache is finally gone but the heart-burn still rages. Good times...good times.

Destination Portland

Hot damn! Portland, here we come! Kris and I are heading to Portland with some friends for our second visit. Our first visit was a whirlwind four days, but we were able to squeeze in six brewery/brew-pub visits and check out some other sites, but we didn't get our fill of beer and we missed some sites we wanted to visit. Our next trip, starting on 4/23, will be five days. I'm guessing it'll be five decadent, bleary-eyed, slurred, days. First of all, we're gonna try to hit the famous or infamous doughnut shop, Voodoo Doughnut. Any place that puts bacon on their doughnuts is worth visiting. We're also gonna try to hit a 'za joint called Apizza Schole's. Sounds like we're going to try and hit a few Tiki hot-spots as well. I wonder it'll be warm enough for a Hawaiian shirt? I guess if I'm swilling mega-rum-bombs it won't really matter what the temp is. And of course, we'll be hitting a few brewpubs and breweries. The itinerary is still being worked out, but there certainly is no lack of places to go. I'd love to hit Rogue, but that's a bit of a drive. Hell, maybe we'll get a chance to run about Astoria piss-drunk yelling "Pinchers of Power!" and doing the truffle-shuffle. Yeah baby!