Back on the road!

Whoops I let a good amount of time go by there without posting anything in this space. Hope that didn't bother anyone other than Patrick. In my last post I dropped a big load of text from Maine. Since then I returned to RI for a few day before heading down to Pete's bachelor party in Washington DC. We had an awesome weekend, going rafting on the Potomac, eating big steaks, drinking good beer and going to a Nationals game. It was a damn good time and I think Pete enjoyed it quite a bit.

After the BP I rolled back up to RI and attended a kick-ass beer tasting at Track 84, RI's best Beer Bar. The highlights were Portsmouth Kate The Great, Founder's Breakfast Stout, Noggonne Dark Horizon and by far the best a 6 year old home brewed Barleywine. I brought some decent stuff myself and it was much appreciated by those who attended, but maybe not quite as much as those I mentioned.

Since then I have hung around the house not doing all that much. Trying to figure out what to do and where to go when I leave. I got to watch a lot of playoff basketball, which was awesome, especially in HD. IN the last couple days I went back up to ME with a truckload of stuff for Sarah. It was mostly stuff she and Brett wanted but Mom decided to fill it up with a lot of Sarah's stuff that Mom wanted out of her house now that Sarah had a house of her own.

This trip of course allowed Sarah and I to stop by The Portsmouth Brewery. This stop over was particularly awesome b/c I was able to get a couple pints of the cask ale that Tyler had warned me to look out for a couple weeks previously. It was a scotch
ale that they had oaked in Lagavulin casks. Ooo my, that was delicious.

And now I am in RI getting packed up and ready to head west again. So, until I go to some interesting places and take some interesting picture here are a couple tid bits to get everyone back on the blog train.

Miles from SF to RI: 3910
Miles since (ME and DC): 852
Total miles since March 1st: 12751

And now some pictures of Lilly, my sister's cute but goofy-looking dog.

Zoom...

East Coast, baby! 3910 miles after I left Palo Alto, I arrived at my parents house in Warwick, RI. Good Ol' Rhody. It was kind of epic unloading all the beer from the car but I managed with some help from Mom. That evening my parents and I headed over to Track 84 the local (and awesome) beer bar. I love this bar, they don't have the best beer and it's not the greatest atmosphere, and I sure could use some buffalo wing while I am there, but they do have some really good beer on 18 taps and the selection changes on a weekly basis. And on top of that the beer is pretty cheap 4-5 dollars a glass. Mom enjoyed a Kasteel Rouge (a sweet black cherry flavored beer). Dad had one of his favorites the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, and I had the Stone Imperial Russian Stout and the Rouge Chocolate Stout. The Stone IRS was quite good, certainly not my favorite Russian Imperial but high quality for sure, and the Chocolate Stout was somewhat disappointing - a bit thin in the body and the chocolate was not very evident.

The next day (April 30th) was my mom's birthday. I went up to Lincoln Woods for some bouldering and had an enjoyable afternoon despite not sending anything new. Later that evening we had Mom's meal of choice which was pizza, and a nice big chocolate cake from Gregg's (a Rhode Island favorite).

The next day I drove up to Portland to visit my sister and the other folks in that area that know. I also had some beer to deliver to Chris up at Ebenezer's Pub. On the drive up I stopped in Portsmouth to visit the Portsmouth Brewery and have a drink of whatever they had on cask. It runs out that what they had was a brown ale that they had oaked in some port barrels. These were the same barrels that they had used to oak their Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout which is up to #2 on the Beer Advocate top 100 list. That evening, I went out in the Old Port section of Portland with Sarah and Brett and her roommate Addy. We enjoyed a decent band at some bar and then picked up a tasty pizza on the way home.

The next day Brett and I headed up to Ebenezer's to deliver the beer I had brought from California for Chris.What followed was an awesome afternoon for beer drinking and hanging out with Chris who is aways a great story teller. I also discovered that Chris is a big sports fan which is great because I have lots to say about just about any sport and it appears that he does too. I am not sure how much I should say about the beer that was had, partly because Chris served up some stuff that is not for general consumption, and partly because we had enough that I am not sure I remember exactly what all we drank. The one thing I remember very well was the BBB a sour belgian barleywine. Somehow that beer hit my taste buds just right. A little sour, a little complex and malty with a nice full body.

Brett and I managed to sober up and drive home (although I had a bit of a hangover, I think. The oncoming headlights were very bright.) Once we got back we watched the end of the Celtics/Hawks game 6 which was a lot of fun b/c the Hawks once again managed to pull out a win at home in a very loud arena. (I am currently watching game 7.) Sarah was off at work, she works nights at the hospital, and sleeps during the day after a work night.

On Saturday, I lazed around the house until around 4 when I drove over to visit my college buddy Brett. We went out for some damn good wings at a local place and then headed over to a bar called the Great Lost Bear for some pretty good beer. I had the Allagash Four on cask, followed by a St Bernadus 12, a Gouden Carlous Classic and a Duchesse De Bourgogne. The Duchesse was much better on tap last night than when I had some out of a bottle with Josh and Jon before I left LA. This was sweeter and lightly tart, while the one out of the bottle was almost vinegary. I think the Duchesse is highly variable which is why there are so many up and down reviews on BA.com. (I have had it out of the bottle before and it was excellent.)

Brett (CB) and I headed back to his place and watched Hitman, a truly awful movie. Brett fell asleep and I was unable to wake him up to say goodbye.

I am not sure what is on tap for today but Sarah is not working tonight so we'll go do something fun I bet. Okay, I have basketball to watch and hopefully pancakes to eat courtesy of Addy.

Is There a Heaven For Beer Drinkers?

Well if there is a heaven for beer lovers then it is a magical place where the beer changes to fit each person's individual palate, presenting the perfect taste and consistency for that moment in time. Changing to create the perfect fusion of mood, food, climate and beer. Unfortunately a place serving such a beer does not exist on this lowly planet. There are however places that can only be described as outposts of beer heaven. Places where mere mortals labor in the world of beer to produce or serve the pinnacles of brewing. Beers that exceed all reasonable expectations for beers of that type and leave your mouth dying for another taste. Beers whose flavor and texture leaves a lingering imprint on your mind for years to come. I have been to three such places and many more poor imitations. Yesterday I drove up through the snow in Maine to reach Ebenezer's Pub.

Is there a Holy Grail of Beer? I would say there is not. I mean no two beer drinkers have the same palate. For example, my dad doesn't like heavy beers. He likes good beer. But I have tried several of the mostly highly regarded beers (among the beer drinkers world) on him and he just kinda makes a face and says "Not bad, but not for me." So with him I took a different tack. I have been plying him with the better rated beers in specific types that appeal to him, and this has worked out quite well. However this means that my "Holy Grail" would be nearly undrinkable for my father, and his would just crack my rotation as a refreshing summer beer.

Keeping that in mind, if there was a Holy Grail of beer you would find it at Ebenezer's Pub in Lovell, ME. Chris and Jeni, the proprietors have created a bar that is truly amazing. With 35 taps serving a crazy variety of always great and often incredible beers from around the world. The tap selection is fantastic but it is quite literally overshadowed by the unbelievable bottle selection. Chris has put together an absolutely unparalleled collection of rare and vintage beers. Stuff you just can't find anywhere else.

Well this is the part where I come in. Chris loves beer from a brewery in Santa Rosa, CA, Russian River. (As do I. It is another outpost of beer heaven, but it is one that will have to be addressed in a later post.) I recently made a trip to California and brought back some beer from Russian River. That is not as easy as it sounds, I brought back 19 bottles and they were all wine bottle sized. Bubble wrap and my clothes sufficed to keep them whole in my checked luggage despite my concerns. Both bags were nearly overweight, but not by much and the woman who checked me in didn't look at the scale.

In any case, yesterday I drove up to Ebenezer's to bring Chris the beer I brought across the country for him. And he was stoked. He drooled over the beer for a bit, and then we went into the bar and hung out drinking some of his excellent beer for a few hours. He fired up the deep fryer and we ate a medley of fried chicken parts to soak up the alcohol. Despite that I had to hang out for another hour or so 'til I was good to drive back to Portland through the snow.

We had some Struise Earthmonk, Port Brewing Hop-15, Struise Black Albert, and Lost Abbey Judgment Day.

Another fantastic journey into the woods to visit the man who would guard the Holy Grail of Beer if there was such a thing.