Cheers to the future

It's Friday night, the perfect night for a special beer.  And by special I mean the kind that hides in the back of the fridge because you want to make sure it is enjoyed and not just consumed in as one of many in an evening.  If we lived in Colorado, this beer probably would not fall into the special beer category because you'd be able to pick it up anywhere, well....at any LIQUOR store at least since Colorado still has the silly law banning the sale of real beer in the grocery store.  But I digress...

Our special beer tonight was the Pinstripe Red Ale (5.15% ABV) from Ska Brewing Company in Durango, Colorado.  You see, The Husband and I both have dreams of living somewhere other than Phoenix.  While I'll admit, Arizona is home to some of the most beautiful, strange and awe-inspiring landscapes on the earth, it is hotter than hell here in Phoenix.  And very very crowded.  The Husband dreams of moving to a small town and becoming the town engineer (or something equivalent) where he can ride his bike to work everyday with his dog running by his side.  Where after work, he can take the long way home and possibly get a good trail ride in with his faithful 4-legged companion.  I dream of raising our kids in a smaller town (but not a teenie tiny town) with four seasons.  I want a large backyard without being surrounding by a block wall impeding the scenic view of my @sshole neighbors large (and tan colored, just like everyone elses) 2 story house and the sounds of their 3 neglected dogs barking 24 hours a day.

So cheers!  Cheers to someday.  The day when we can live in Colorado (we already own a Subaru), Utah (if only the religious issues were not so overpowering), Montana (I'm deathly afraid of being eaten by bears) or Wyoming (yeee-haw).  The day when our fridge and beer fridge are full of the beers we used to consider special.

Cheers to the future!!

Thursday Night Salvation

Belgian-Style Ales are my favorite beers because they are so tasty and they typically pack a big punch which means I only need one to think that I'm reeeaaaaaaaaaally funny.  Generally when this happens, the Husband does not agree.


Tonight, The Husband selected a very delicious brew to pair with my favorite childhood dinner (tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich and fresh green salad with Balsamic Vinagrette dressing): the Salvation Belgian Golden Ale (9% ABV) from Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado. 

Oh my goodness --- after the first few tastes, I know that this beer is an amazing beer.  It is purely delicious!  I wish we had more...a lot more.  Light and bubbly with fruit tastes.  The exact fruit is hard to distinguish as I just finished eating a salad with a strong balsamic dressing.

Buster Nut

One of the brews we hauled home with us from our ski trip was the Buster Nut Brown Ale (5.15% ABV) from Ska Brewing Company in Durango, Colorado.  After the fussy pants baby (allergies + transitioning to big kid food = fussy pants baby) was in bed, we cracked one open. 

The Husband remarked at how nutty it tasted.  Really?  Shocking.  Head was minimal after pouring, but then again, the beer is a few weeks old and did make the transition from 8,000 feet above sea level to 10,000 feet and then back to 1,000 feet here in Phoenix.  So who knows if it is that is how it is supposed to be or not.  Either way it was definitely tasty.

Rocky Mountain IPA

We first discovered the Rocky Mountain IPA (6.2% ABV) from Fort Collins Brewery in Fort Collins (duh), Colorado on the last day of our New Years ski trip in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  As it was our last night there, we ended up bringing a few home with us.  Wish we had brought home a few more as this was a pretty tasty treat. 

After drinking this and reading their website, I have learned that the Brewery currently ships their beer to 15 states, but not their neighboring state of Arizona.  Since learning this, I sent an email requesting that they begin distributing in Arizona as I'd love to taste some of their other brews.  Keep your fingers crossed for us.

This photo was taken from the back deck of the rental house in Pagosa Springs.  Maybe someday we'll have a house with a view like this...

Other beer lovers?

I spent some time on the ol interwebs tonight searching for other local beer blogs.   I was hoping to find someone else out there who is interested in discovering small local breweries and then broadcasting their beer to anyone who reads this blog.  I found a handful of blogs but most of them haven't been updated since 2009.  Not helpful.

I am disappointed.  But now I am going to try even harder to motivate the Husband to get into the idea of the blog (he views it somewhat as a chore) and help me keep it going...even if no one follows or reads it.


However, I did stumble across Craft Beer Tuesdays at a place I've never heard of or been to that is not too far from home (or work). Here's the scoop: Every Tuesday at Sandstone (Ray and Rural), get great craft beer for $2.50/bottle or can. Choose from Bell's Oberon, Two Hearted, Left Hand Milk Stout, Big Sky Moose Drool, and Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pills.

Nut Brown

Warm Welcome Nut Brown Ale (6.0% ABV) from Ridgeway Brewing in England. Again with the bottle art. We blogged on another Ridgeway brew earlier this winter. Santa's dropping down the chimney and browning his....well...you get it.  And again the expeience drops off once the bottle is opened. A stong attempt to pour this beer up with a healthy head yielded a thin, discontinuous film. Color was copper with a slight opacity. The nose is mildly woody if not unremarkable. Wife described it as the smell of the inside of a wood drawer at her grandmas house. First taste was strongly reminiscent of Newcastle Brown. Not bad but not inspiring with a very thin body. 5 of 10 for this knockoff English brown in seasonal dress.

As an aside, we began flipping the Santa bottle cap from this beer to call the field goals attempted in the second half of the NCAA championship football game tonight. First flip predicted the Alabama miss followed by 44 yard make. What an exciting game...le yawn.

Sailing Santa

Compliments of our beer swap friends in Austin, today we enjoyed the Sailing Santa (7% ABV) from the Saint Arnold Brewery in Houston, Texas as we packed up the last of the Christmas decorations.  I hate (and I mean HATE) packing up Christmas decorations.  Why is the box for the tree always so damn small?!?  Every year I find myself nearly sitting on the tree to squish all the branches back the way they were only to discover that it still is no where near able to fit back into the tiny and crappy cardboard box they sell you the tree in.  BAH.  Bring out the tape.  Now there are fake pine needles all over my floor, dammit.  Bring out the vacuum.  And soon enough, you find that you're cleaning the whole house because of fake pine needles or dust rings around the Christmas trinkets that have been adorning your coffee table, etc. 

<Sigh>

But this year, we decided to do all the work involving ladders on Saturday afternoon and then all the rest of the packing/putting away today (Sunday).  Enter, the bottle of Sailing Santa.  I taste pine.  I taste citrus.  I taste hops.  I taste a lot going on in my mouth...and bubbles.  I enjoyed this beer, but I think Scott enjoyed it a bit more as I think he ended up drinking more of it than I did.