Friday night dog fight

http://dreamdogsart.typepad.com/art/2007/08/micheal-vicks-j.html

I heard on the radio recently that Michael Vick got a new puppy.  Whaaaaat?  Seriously??!?

He also funded the Bad Newz Kennels.  Who the hell thought that would be a GOOD name for a kennel?!?!  All the kennels I know of are happy sounding places - some go so far as to throw the word "spa" into the name so you get this image of Molly getting pampered for $35 a day while you are out of town trying to rationalize if you should drop another $15 for a beachside Pina Colada.  Yes, you should, BTW.

Anyway, in honor of Michael Vick's newest puppy, which better turn out to be the world's most spoiled dog ever, I present to you a very legal (as long as you're 21) and exceptionally delicious (as long as you like good beer) Friday night dog fight...

Punkin Ale (7.0% ABV)  vs. 90 Minute IPA (9% ABV)
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Milton, Deleware

In the delicate tulip glass on the left, the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale.  If you're new to beer, don't let the delicate tulip glass fool you -- this is not a foo-foo beer.  Brewed with pumpkin meat, brown sugar and a secret blend of spices (I would guess some combination of: nutmeg, cinnamon and possibly cloves), this beer made its debut at the 1994 Punkin Chunkin Recipe Contest in Deleware.  The Punkin Chunkin Contest began in 1986 when one of the founders of the event recalls sitting around with friends discussing throwing pumpkins.  In 2011, the annual event in drew more than 20,000 people (at $10/person) to a random farm field in Bridgeville, Deleware ... approximately 2 hours east of Washington DC.  Out of the bottle, this beer is light on pumpkin and slightly too sweet for me.  The spices are nice but the pumpkin flavor is thinner than I hoped but maybe I should have viewed it as a session beer.  A friend of ours brought over a growler with this liquid goodness in it and I remember thinking how delicious it was.  So maybe it's better on tap.  Or maybe by then I didn't want my beer to be straight pumpkin.  Bottom line is this: I should have bought more than one six-pack when I found it.


In the robust and very heavy glass on the right, the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.  Esquire Magazine called the 90 Minute IPA "perhaps the best IPA in America."  Interesting because last time I checked, Esquire was predominately a fashion magazine.  Maybe they meant best dressed IPA in America.  The label is quite nice... 90 Minute IPA is continuously hopped, which according to the Brewer "allows for a pungent -- but not crushing -- hop flavor."  When I sampled this, I thought it was exceptionally hoppy, but my tolerance for hoppy beers is still low compared to most.  The flavor of this beer was very good but in my mouth, the hop overpowered the taste.  The Husband loves this beer and hides a few in the fridge so he can re-discover them when randomly hunting for something different.

So at the end of the fight our glasses are empty and there are no dogs standing ... who won?

My glass is empty ... so I did.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

...for pumpkin flavored everything. 

I remember when Starbucks first started serving their Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  My sister and I would chase them down as often as possible.  Of course this was before I realized that lattes were terrible for you.   It was also before I was old enough to drink alcohol though so I suppose it was fine then.  Anyway, now it seems like there's a pumpkin flavored version of nearly everything (brownie mix, beer, coffee, lattes, cheesecake, muffins, bread, candles, soap, lotion, etc.).  What's next, pumpkin chapstick with a pumpkin cap?  Likely.  Some of these combinations I disagree with and think are mostly stupid but some of these combinations I really love, most notably ... muffins, bread and beer.

My first pumpkin beer of the 2012 pumpkin season...

Punk'n Harvest Pumpkin Ale (4% ABV)
Uinta Brewing Company
Salt Lake City, Utah

The flavor of this was smooth and discreet.  It is not a high octane boozy beer (which I later confirmed by discovering that Uinta refers to it as "a sessionable beer") and the pumpkin flavor is not overpowering like some pumpkin beers I've encountered in years past.  The pumpkin spices are balanced to the pumpkin flavor very well. 

All in all, this is a solid seasonal session beer.  4.5 stars (out of 5).

Drag bag beer

The first time I ever had this beer was on a rafting trip down the San Juan River in 2005.  The San Juan River begins in southwestern Colorado on the southern slopes of the San Juan Mountains. The San Juan River flows into New Mexico, then across New Mexico, and then across the very southwestern corner of Colorado, and then continues in its northwesterly course for an appreciable distance into Utah, before turning west and joining the Colorado River.

http://www.rivertrips.net/maps.html

There was a mesh bag hanging off the back of each boat filled with beer because the water was cool enough to keep the beers cold and not having a cooler full of ice saved room on the boat.  Brilliant.  However, the San Juan River just so happens to drain some of the sandiest parts of the country and therefore, has enough fine silt in the water to rub all the ink off the beer cans after a day or two in the bag.  I drank somewhere between 1 and 10 of these beers over the course of the 5 day trip and recall enjoying them.  But now, nearly 7 years later, here I am trying it again.

Dale's Pale Ale (6.5% ABV)
Oskar Blues Brewery
Longmont, Colorado

Fact:  in 2002, Oskar Blues became the first craft brewery in the United States to can their own beer.