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| Saison du Buff (7.7% ABV) Stone / Dogfish Head / Victory |
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Beer, cheese and cookies
After a hard powder day on the slopes, a stack of grilled cheese is like heaven. Pair that with some Girl Scout cookies, a FANTASTIC beer and an outdoor hottub ... and life is good.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Four-Legged Brew
Rating: 4 out of 5 pint glasses on the unofficial Suburban Suds rating system.
The story behind the Beautiful Blonde, as copied from the brewery website (http://kneedeepbrewing.com/blog/news/beautiful-blonde-ale/)...
Our Beautiful Blonde beer was initially designed as an “intro” into craft beer, an easy drinking beer for people interested in trying craft beer for the first time or craft beer lovers just looking for something a little lighter. We weren’t really satisfied with our first label, so we decided to revise it. After kicking around several ideas, we decided to incorporate one of our other goals, becoming involved in a worthy cause, into our new label.
Our CEO Jerry Moore and his wife Chris have been puppy raisers for Guide Dogs for the Blind for almost two years. Their first guide dog puppy was a beautiful blonde Labrador named Arlinda and with them for 13 months. Arlinda currently is in phase 7 (of 8 phases) of her advanced training at the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus in San Rafael, CA. and we look forward to seeing her graduate soon (Update: Arlinda did in fact graduate on February 4, 2012. She is now a full time guide dog living in Las Vegas with Caitlin. Congratulations to them both!) . Their second puppy, Luna, also a beautiful blonde, is 6 months old and very much a puppy, but also showing positive signs of becoming a successful guide dog. The puppy on our new label is, by the way, Luna.
A puppy raiser receives their puppy at approximately 8 weeks old and socializes the puppy for the next 12-14 months. Socialization means not only learning basic commands, but taking the puppy everywhere the raisers go, allowing it to become “socialized” to various noises, smells, environments, etc., all in preparation for their career as a guide dog. In the case of Jerry and Chris’ puppies, not only have they been to shopping malls, grocery stores, train stations and numerous other public places, they have also attended brew fests, beer tastings, and brewing and bottling days at the brewery.
Guide Dogs for the Blind is an amazing organization which provides dogs (surrogate eyes) for the visually impaired. After being exposed to this organization it was an easy decision to focus our reintroduction of the Beautiful Blonde beer on truly beautiful blondes and their mission.
We would like to recognize the wonderful service that this organization provides and support them in continuing their mission. For every Beautiful Blonde beer sold, Knee Deep Brewing Company will donate a portion of the proceeds to Guide Dogs for the Blind.
So Cheers to all and we hope you enjoy our beers. If you have the opportunity to try our Beautiful Blonde, remember – not only are you drinking a quality beer, you’re contributing to a very worthy cause.
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| Beautiful Blonde Ale (4.2% ABV) Knee Deep Brewing Co. Lincoln, California |
The story behind the Beautiful Blonde, as copied from the brewery website (http://kneedeepbrewing.com/blog/news/beautiful-blonde-ale/)...
Our Beautiful Blonde beer was initially designed as an “intro” into craft beer, an easy drinking beer for people interested in trying craft beer for the first time or craft beer lovers just looking for something a little lighter. We weren’t really satisfied with our first label, so we decided to revise it. After kicking around several ideas, we decided to incorporate one of our other goals, becoming involved in a worthy cause, into our new label.
Our CEO Jerry Moore and his wife Chris have been puppy raisers for Guide Dogs for the Blind for almost two years. Their first guide dog puppy was a beautiful blonde Labrador named Arlinda and with them for 13 months. Arlinda currently is in phase 7 (of 8 phases) of her advanced training at the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus in San Rafael, CA. and we look forward to seeing her graduate soon (Update: Arlinda did in fact graduate on February 4, 2012. She is now a full time guide dog living in Las Vegas with Caitlin. Congratulations to them both!) . Their second puppy, Luna, also a beautiful blonde, is 6 months old and very much a puppy, but also showing positive signs of becoming a successful guide dog. The puppy on our new label is, by the way, Luna.
A puppy raiser receives their puppy at approximately 8 weeks old and socializes the puppy for the next 12-14 months. Socialization means not only learning basic commands, but taking the puppy everywhere the raisers go, allowing it to become “socialized” to various noises, smells, environments, etc., all in preparation for their career as a guide dog. In the case of Jerry and Chris’ puppies, not only have they been to shopping malls, grocery stores, train stations and numerous other public places, they have also attended brew fests, beer tastings, and brewing and bottling days at the brewery.
Guide Dogs for the Blind is an amazing organization which provides dogs (surrogate eyes) for the visually impaired. After being exposed to this organization it was an easy decision to focus our reintroduction of the Beautiful Blonde beer on truly beautiful blondes and their mission.
We would like to recognize the wonderful service that this organization provides and support them in continuing their mission. For every Beautiful Blonde beer sold, Knee Deep Brewing Company will donate a portion of the proceeds to Guide Dogs for the Blind.
So Cheers to all and we hope you enjoy our beers. If you have the opportunity to try our Beautiful Blonde, remember – not only are you drinking a quality beer, you’re contributing to a very worthy cause.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Post slope suds...in Tucson
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| Copper City Ale (4.9% ABV) Old Bisbee Brewing Company Bisbee, Arizona |
Yes, you read the title correctly. Post slope suds...in Tucson. Tucson Arizona. If you read this blog enough, you'll probably assume (correctly) that the slope I am referring to is a ski slope.
So yes, I basically said skiing in Tucson.
Mt. Lemmon is the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains, located in the Coronado National Forest approximately 45 minutes north of Tucson. The elevation at the top is 9,157 feet above sea-level - compared to the average elevation of Tucson which is 2,600 feet. The mountain receives approximately 180 inches of snow annually!
After a fun and interesting day skiing Mt. Lemmon in Tucson we hit up 1702, "Tucson's Beer and Pizza Mecca," for some beers and a snack.
I went for the Copper City Ale from Old Bisbee Brewing Company and it turned out to be a very easy drinking (almost session-style) beer that leaned a bit to the hoppy side of hoppy. I ended up giving it to The Husband to finish because I wanted to try about 9 of the other beers they had on tap.
Next up was The Perfect Crime, a black saison. I ordered this because I had never seen a black saison before and I needed to taste it for myself. As with most saisons, it needed 5 minutes or so to warm up but it was deliciously creamy like a dark beer and hearty like a saison. A very interesting, and well executed, pairing. Would definitely order another one if I ever see it again and might even be crazy enough to try something like this on my own.
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| The Perfect Crime (6.8% ABV) Black Smoked Saison A EvilTwin Brewing, Stillwater Artisanal Ales and Stone Brewing Company collaboration |
Score: 4.75 out of 5 pint glasses on the unofficial Suburban Suds pint glass rating system for 1702.
Recommendations: check out 1702 and as many of the 49 beers they have on tap on any given day. Don't be afraid to ask for samples and taste test as many as you want before committing.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Kid-free in the Old Pueblo
So it's been a while. I know. The blog and I had a small identity crisis which isn't really over but at least it's no longer such a road block for me. I know this all sounds strange but I was so torn on what direction to go with the blog that it literally prevented me from doing anything related to this (except I managed to continue to seek out, find and drink new beers).
Alright, so I'm going to play catch-up and post some oldies in no particular order. Notes about the beer itself may be shorter and more vague because I don't always take good notes and have lost some over the past few months.
I'll start with a random find...
Dragoon Brewing Company in Tucson, Arizona. On a spontaneous kid-free weekend trip to Tucson, the Husband and I found this (again, what would I do without Google Maps at my fingertips 24/7) and stopped in to check it out before we headed to our hotel. Great choice.
The Stronghold Session was on cask that evening and served up perfectly. The Biere del Bac was much boozier than I expected (I seem to recall it being ~9% ABV) but still exceptionally good.
Score: 4.75 out of 5 pint glasses on the unofficial Suburban Suds pint glass rating system.
Recommendations: next time you are driving on I-10 through the Tucson area, hop off the interstate and check out the Dragoon Brewing Company, if you aren't scared of Tucson or aren't one of the Phoenix snobs that claims to hate Tucson. If you are one of those people, then please just stay on I-10 and know that it's your loss because their beer is delicious.
http://www.dragoonbrewing.com/
Alright, so I'm going to play catch-up and post some oldies in no particular order. Notes about the beer itself may be shorter and more vague because I don't always take good notes and have lost some over the past few months.
I'll start with a random find...
Dragoon Brewing Company in Tucson, Arizona. On a spontaneous kid-free weekend trip to Tucson, the Husband and I found this (again, what would I do without Google Maps at my fingertips 24/7) and stopped in to check it out before we headed to our hotel. Great choice.
The Stronghold Session was on cask that evening and served up perfectly. The Biere del Bac was much boozier than I expected (I seem to recall it being ~9% ABV) but still exceptionally good.
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| Left: Stronghold Session Ale (on cask) - 4.8% ABV Right: Biere del Bac Dragoon Brewing Company Tucson, Arizona |
Recommendations: next time you are driving on I-10 through the Tucson area, hop off the interstate and check out the Dragoon Brewing Company, if you aren't scared of Tucson or aren't one of the Phoenix snobs that claims to hate Tucson. If you are one of those people, then please just stay on I-10 and know that it's your loss because their beer is delicious.
http://www.dragoonbrewing.com/
Monday, December 31, 2012
Trashy Blonde
Perfect at the end of a great day on the slopes...
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| Trashy Blonde - Blonde Ale Three Barrel Brewing Company Del Norte, Colorado |
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