...and now i have a huge hankerin' for some Lavaman too.

finishing my reviews from Hawaii

Maui Brewing Co

only got to visit the brewpub once. (thought i'd make it back for a second trip, so i didn't get to try half of what i wanted). the brewery was actually closed when i stopped by for a tour.
went to their brewpub and had the following:
(once again, i stayed away from anything i can get here in Houston)

Father Damien Abbey - I'm a sucker for Belgium beers, so when I saw this on their beer menu, I couldn't pass it up. take your typical abbey and add a little bit of cherry flavor. A little too sweet for a session beer, but great nonetheless.

Smoked Hemp Ale - honestly can't remember much about this one. the waitress recommended it, but it left no real memory with me.

Wild Hog Stout - a jet black Nitro beer that they serve at the brewpub. Really good. reminded me of a Guinness (as any nitro beer will), but much better. Malts, chocolate, and coffee aroma. Very light beer. Would have been fine drinking this one all day.

KGB Russian Imperial Stout (Bourbon Barrels) - The best beer they make in my opinion. I'm a sucker for bourbon, so anytime I can find a bourbon barrel beer, I'm happy.
Aroma was bourbon, coconut, vanilla, and oak. Full body beer, finished really well.

Saint A is getting ready to ship out "Christmas in July"

i love bourbon barrell aged brews!!!!

update:
finally uploaded pictures from our trip. going through them and found this one of the beer menu from the Maui Brewing beerpub.

(the stars represent the standard beer sampler. seeing as how i have had 3 of the 4 here in houston, i skipped that and picked my own.)



[This message has been edited by spadilly (edited 7/4/2011 1:10p).]

I picked up a sixer of Real Ale's new seasonal, 'Devil's Backbone'. This stuff is filthy gross. There wasn't much of a description on the bottles or the six pack holder, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I want my seven bucks back, as well as damages done to my tastebuds. All of you that enjoy the weedwhacker and other nasty stuff will probably really like it, so give it a shot.

yuengling

http://www.yuengling.com/over21/over21.php?referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yuengling.com%2F]

and Tank 7

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/50570


Both are very strong.


[This message has been edited by trip (edited 7/5/2011 9:06a).]

Just got back from Seattle/Alaska/Victoria on a cruise. Man the craft beer is everywhere. I don't recall seeing Bud/miller/coors one time, and we went in, oh about 10-12 bars/pubs/restaurants.

Pike's brewpub, we had a private tour from the owner/founder. On a scale of 1-10, this tour was a solid 11. IMO the Saint arnold tour is about a 4 or 5. Charles Finkel, this guys was a walking encyclopedia of beer/wine/art knowledge. I'll just let you read his bio. This guy was amazing. Tour and lunch was 3 hours long. Just my parents, bro/wife and me/wife, so very exclusive.
http://www.museumofflight.org/files/Charles%20Finkel%20Bio.pdf
http://www.seattledining.com/ARCHIVE/Beer/Pike_brewing%C2%AD_co.htm



mmm, the barley wine.


Anyway, outside of seattle, we saw tons of alaskan brews (they were featured on the cruise), so we had lots of these, and the ambers and pales.


Ship even offered a tasting for $10 one afternoon. Of course I signed up.


In victoria, we ate dinner at spinnakers brewpub. They had tons of one-off brews, I just had a flight of 6 5oz. beers, then continued dinner with a pint of NWA (northwest ale) and a nut brown. Sorry, the hot canadian in the background didn't quite get in the pic. The whole waitstaff was hot 20-something canadian girls wearing little black skirts or black yoga type pants.


Victoria has 80K people, and ~10 brewpubs. (not just pubs, brewpubs that make their own beer). Translate that to houston (just city limits), that would be almost 300 brew pubs (or about 800 brewpubs for houston metro). Could you even imagine?

Again, no bud miller or coors to be seen, though this one had molson.




That's about it. It was beer nirvana up there in the NW. This t-shirt summed it up. They had the same t-shirt for Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. It's true for all 3.


Oh, and this made me chuckle:


[This message has been edited by 62strat (edited 7/11/2011 4:52p).]

quote:

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Smoked Hemp Ale - honestly can't remember much about this one. the waitress recommended it, but it left no real memory with me.

---

Im sorry but that cracks me up.

sounds like an awesome trip 62, nice review.

Did you get to hit up a Perrys and enjoy some exquisite dining on your trip as well?

Man you sure do store a lot of baggage in your brain. I'm sure glad I'm not burdened with remembering pointless, trivial arguments with people online.

All of the Alaskan Brewery Beers I've had all have been great, even the ESB.

sounds like an awesome trip.

Alaskan Amber

quote:

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I'm sure glad I'm not burdened with remembering pointless, trivial arguments with people online.

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You didn't really just type this, did you? You specifically mentioned that they didn't serve Coors or Miller Lite when I brought it up that some actually like this beer EARLIER in the thread. You sure do have a short memory, pendejo......go read page 2 of this thread again.

quote:

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I don't recall seeing Bud/miller/coors one time, and we went in, oh about 10-12 bars/pubs/restaurants.

---

Man, you're such a beer elitist badass, I tell you what.

quote:

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You specifically mentioned that they didn't serve Coors or Miller Lite when I brought it up that some actually like this beer EARLIER in the thread.

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Hahahahah. Thanks for laugh man. Sorry, but in my alaska post when I mentioned there was no BMC, it breaks my heart to tell you this, but I was in no way thinking back of you or our conversation back on page 2, from 2 months ago.

It's nice you flattered yourself though
As this is for the most part a craft brew thread, I was pointing out what almost any craft brew drinker would: That it was great to be in a city where you could go into any drinking establishment and see only great local and regional beers, and not any beer of the american, mass produced mediocre kind.

So the jokes on your for even remembering your page 2 post. You really need to clear your head man

[This message has been edited by 62strat (edited 7/12/2011 9:38a).]

went to Kroger last night looking for a little Christmastime fun...no luck.

I did, however, pick up a sixer of New Belgium Somersault and shall be partaking in that this weekend.

picked me up one of these, it will be consumed this weekend for sure

Already?
earlier and earlier every year..

Oktoberfest is my least favorite.

quote:

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Hahahahah. Thanks for laugh man. Sorry, but in my alaska post when I mentioned there was no BMC, it breaks my heart to tell you this, but I was in no way thinking back of you or our conversation back on page 2, from 2 months ago.

It's nice you flattered yourself though
As this is for the most part a craft brew thread, I was pointing out what almost any craft brew drinker would: That it was great to be in a city where you could go into any drinking establishment and see only great local and regional beers, and not any beer of the american, mass produced mediocre kind.

So the jokes on your for even remembering your page 2 post. You really need to clear your head man

---

Actually the joke is on you buddy. Who in the f PAYS to go on a cruise to freakin Alaska? That sounds absolutely terrible.

Would love to take a trip to the PNW/beer mecca

[This message has been edited by phatbc (edited 7/15/2011 12:05p).]

quote:

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I picked up a sixer of Real Ale's new seasonal, 'Devil's Backbone'. This stuff is filthy gross. There wasn't much of a description on the bottles or the six pack holder, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I want my seven bucks back, as well as damages done to my tastebuds. All of you that enjoy the weedwhacker and other nasty stuff will probably really like it, so give it a shot.

---

between this and the name, you have to be 16 years old....right? I mean I see the Ag Tag....but....lolwut?

Anyone tried this beer: Jai Alai Cedar Aged IPA - Humidor Series? I really would like to find it and pair it with a cigar. Spec's didn't have it last time I looked... so, I'm probably SOL on finding it in the Houston area.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/17981/50081/?ba=Onslow

Had the Saint Arnold Milk Stout on cask at Flying Saucer last night...I was kinda underwhelmed, but it was tasty

Alaskan Cruises are great, it is a good way to see a glimpse of Alaska, and can really get to see quite a bit more depending on which excursions you do.

St. A's Octoberfest- I am really upset with how early the seasonals are coming out lately. Octoberfest will be sold out before October is even here, just like Spring Bock was out in March.

[This message has been edited by RK (edited 7/15/2011 1:19p).]

quote:

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Who in the f PAYS to go on a cruise to freakin Alaska? That sounds absolutely terrible.

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Funny, it was my first cruise, everybody I talked to that had been on multiple cruises said alaska was their favorite.
And btw, my parents wanted to take our first family trip since bro and I got married, and they paid for it. Sucker.
So, the jokes back on you.
And I got to visit the most dense craft beer region of north america to boot.

Why do you insist on coming in and harassing anyway? Go play in traffic or something.




[This message has been edited by 62strat (edited 7/15/2011 1:48p).]

I've had pecker wrecker at Petrol. It's tasty.

quote:

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since bro and I got married

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hah. yeh that don't sound right.

Did you run into the Deadliest Catch crews at all? That sounds terrible, so it doesn't surprise me that you would enjoy it. Most go on cruises to beaches and such, not to places where it's cold as sh-t. It all makes sense why you're such a Perrys fan now.

quote:

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Actually the joke is on you buddy. Who in the f PAYS to go on a cruise to freakin Alaska? That sounds absolutely terrible.

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?? you're kidding right?