Brewery Weekend

This weekend was a crazy one. I went to Stone, The Lost Abbey/Port, Bootlegger, The Bruery, and 38 Degrees Ale House (ok, so I know this one is not a brewery, but they have a damn good selection of beer and know what they are doing).

First off, I would like to say that Stone is an AMAZING brewery. They are kind of what I imagined every brewery would be like but... as I found out... I was wrong.



Their tour guides are amazing. Jessica Wilson, did a great job with literally everything. Nikkee thought she may have been pregnant with the way she was "nursing" her beer and stuff but what do I know. I was more excited to be inside the actual brewery. I was literally having "beergasms" apparently... but what do I care? I saw pallets upon pallets of beer, grain, a whole closet full of hops, a test batch of 11-11-11 (I was spying), and the bottling line in motion. I was in heaven.



The best part of the tour, was the tasting at the end. The free beer was totally amazing. I have never tasted an Arrogant Bastard that was that damn good. I wish I would have gotten a growler of that, but I guess that is why they are refillable :D



Note: Do not order the Spud Buds. We did not like them at all, the waitress said no body liked them at all, and she did not like them at all. I guess some people must like them but you have been warned...


(sign meant for my mouth)

Here is a video of the bottling line. The first part is cool, but we were rushed at the end.



After leaving Stone, we went to The Lost Abbey/Port Brewing.


Apparently I was talking to The Owner of the Brewery... I wish I would have known that while I was there. I loved talking to him but I just thought he was a bartender (at this point I was NOT drunk, but we had just left Stone literally 5 minutes prior and I began drinking immediately). He was a really cool guy and had great beer suggestions. I did not like his female replacements that came just about as we were leaving... though, one was totally in fish nets... I love fish nets...

I wish I would have picked up on his clues that he ran the place. There were some good little conversations, but I would have went further if I knew who the hell I was talking to.

This place had a really nice environment. Not really a family place, like I thought Stone was, but a really cool place nonetheless. We were sitting on sand bags. Someone told me that this was the old location of Stone's brewery. I honestly cannot imagine that but I guess everyone has to get started somewhere.

This was the first location that I realized that a brewery did not have to be a fancy, "corporation" type of location in order to make a great product. It really opened my eyes to the world of brewers and the making of craft beer.

I left here with a Growler of 2009 Santa's Little Helper.


It was at this point that Nikkee wanted to go to Bootleggers... I did not want to go.. I know my limits and I know I would have passed them... Let me just say I did...

So I don't really want to talk bad about a place but there was only one brew here I liked... and that was Black Phoenix. I knew I liked that one before going, and that is the only one I liked after going...

This night did not end well. I will just leave you with that for now...

A Growler Hunting I Will Go...

I just want to start off by saying, "Happy Anniversary To Me!!!!!!!!!!!"


Anyway, Now that that is over with, Since I guess this anniversay is about me. I want to go get a few Growlers. One from Stone, The Lost Abbey, Bootleggers, and The Bruery. There are others I want but I guess that will have to come another day. Actually thinking about it, trying to get to all of those locations in one day is pretty ambitious... So, why not turn this weekend into a BEER WEEKEND!

I kind of have this Bucket list of things I want to do/places I want to go before I ship off to BCT and since I got all dorky into beer this past year they all pretty much revolve around that.

1. Go To Eagle Rock Brewing Co.
2. Go To LadyFace Ale & Brassier
3. Go To Stone Brewing Co.
4. Watch Ghost Busters.
5. Eat A 12 Egg Omlette
6. Go to Sierra Nevada (hopefully for beer camp)
7. Go to Deschutes... etc, etc.

There are several other breweries and events on there that I want to go to but that list can go on forever. I only have a couple of months left so I have to pick and choose... though, I am doing some that didn't even make the original cut.

Details later.

Beer Camp

Ahhh, Beer Camp. In the craft brew world this has been a topic of discussion since the new variety pack was released. Even more so since Sierra Nevada announced that entries were being accepted for that Golden Ticket allowing one to come to the brewery and have a mystical time partying and drinking with Oompa Loompas. At first I just shrugged off the idea with thoughts like, “I would never win. What is the point of me entering?”, but after seeing numerous tweets from Sierra Nevada that there were literally only 10 entries, I figured what is the worst that could happen?

I am currently going through a major transition in my life, from that of being a Civilian and becoming a Soldier, and what better way to sound off the past than to get myself in the running for this competition. Shortly after I dedicated myself to doing this, I started thinking up ideas for the script. I thought I had the perfect idea, completely dorky and sure to get some attention. But then SWMBO, AKA Nikkee, had something way better up her sleeves. She wrote out the majority of the script one day while I was out for a run and as soon as I got back she began constructing the costumes.

So I am kind of a Super Hero nut… and use a lot of spandex whenever I wear a costume… This brought on the creation of HopMan! He would die for a good brew and fights for those who are against that fizzy yellow beverage that is often passed as beer and the corporate clutches of the evil Bun Light!

I strutted my stuff for a while wearing The HopMan Uniform and then figured it might be a good idea to plan a few things out. We figured the house would be the easiest place to shoot this thing and we could be done with it in no time. We assembled the last of the props and blocked out the whole scene. We had a few issues but once we worked through those, everything was ready to go.

The video is available Here. I hope that you all get a chance to watch it and that you enjoy it as much as I had fun making it. I really hope it catches the attention of the judges. That would be beyond amazing. The event takes place, literally days before I leave for Basic Training. Though this leaves us with one question, Will Craft Beer prevail? Or will Bun Light continue to keep us blinded from the truth? Find out at Beer Camp! (hopefully)

Hooah!