Kick it

So Erin and I are hitting the grocery store for some grub for dinner. While in line I decide, just for giggles, to hold her stomach. So I'm becoming one with the baby when WHAM... I get kicked right in the hand by the little one. Erin Looks up at me and confirms it. I felt the baby move. It's the first one for sure. There have been a couple other kindas, but this was a round house to the palm. No doubt about it. Daddy time here I come...

Here is a little catch up on the house. It is amazing how fast they throw this stuff up now. You can see a couple of photos from trips 2 weeks ago, the rest are from today (Saturday Nov 10). I'm very excited.

Brew me some of that

I've had the opportunity to wave several out standing beers. I'll group them into 3 categories, "Nice" - "I'll buy that" - "Can't wait to Imitate" aka "I hope the beer I brew is this good"

-Nice-

Samuel Smith - "Pure brewed Lager Beer"
RateBeer.com 3.18/5.0
Beer Advocate 3.69 / 5
Taste exactly like BPR.

Blue Point Brewing Co - Hoptical Illusion
RateBeer.com 3.54/5.0
Beeradvocate 3.95 / 5
I very nice IPA, but nothing memorable.

-I'll buy that-

Green Valley Brewing - Wild Hop Lager
RateBeer.com 2.26/5.0
BeerAdvocate.com 3.13 / 5
This is what it says, a lager with a solid hop element. It almost made the cut for beers I want to brew. It's smooth, with a lightly creamy mouth feel, and a mild hop flavor and just a bit of bitterness. I would buy a six pack if I saw it, and I think I could serve it to anyone and they would enjoy it. I was surprised that the beer is affiliated with Anheuser-Busch.

Dogfish Head - Shelter Pale Ale
RateBeer.com 3.13 / 5
BeerAdvocate 3.34 / 5
I had this on draft at the Mexican joint around the corner from Carrington's new store. Dinner was crap but the beer was memorable. Smooth easy to drink, and a gentle hop bite. I have to say trying all these IPA's is making me think I might like them.

-Can't wait to Imitate-

Stone - Ruination IPA
RateBeer.com 4.06/5
BeerAdvocate 4.29/5
This was a great beer. The problem i have is that I drank it 3 days ago and cant remember the details. I just remember picking up the bottle to read the label 3 different times, each time going, "Damn that is a great beer". It had a full on hop flavor yet it was so easy to drink, which at 7.7% abv and 100+ IBU's is dangerous. of course at $3.35 per bottle, it might be easy to keep away from.

Samuel Adams - Black Lager
RateBeer.com 3.42/5
BeerAdvocate 3.84/5
This is the type of beer I envisioned making when I got into brewing. It is black in color, malty in flavor, creamy mouth feel, and packed with flavor. It taste like dark malt syrup looks and smells. I absolutely loved it.

More Pick 6

So I'm at the Liquor store over by Giant wondering around when I see a shelf of single bottles. Now I've been in this store a bunch of times and I have never seen this shelf. I new about another shelf which sold large bottles of beer and had some cool varieties, but not this two level double sided shelf of adventure. It's like discovering that you closet really does have a passage to another world. So I quickly (35 min) pick 6 beers to try, 3 IPA's and 3 Lagers. I spent about $13 for the six pack, which seems like a lot to me until I think of buying 6 beers at a restaurant.

So, I rush home and make the wife and I a great Mediterranean pizza (Marinated artichokes, sundried tomato, feta cheese, pine nuts, and Greek salad dressing) and then reached for a beer to go with dinner. Please realize that I haven't got a friggen clue what types of things go with what, so I reach for one of the IPA's and have a go.

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA
ratebeer.com - 3.96/5
BeerAdvocate.com - 4.22/5
Holy shit, drinking this beer is like drinking a bitter green plant. The weird thing is that I think that is the point! It smells like the plant from little shop of horrors, except imagine the plant was hops. I will say that the one thing I always like about IPA's is it's hard to drink them fast. Once I get past the shock of hops I do kinda appreciate the beer. The hop flavor though overpowering is very nice. I read another review of it which said it tasted like grapefruit. I kinda see where that comes from. Take the citrus and any semblance of sweetness out of grapefruit and it's that type of bitter. I don't know if I like it... but I have about 20 small sips left to figure it out.