Month: August 2016

Date Night! Or, “Is It Weird That This Beer Smells Like Sushi Rice?”

Holly Kay and I have been married for 5 years (!!!) now.  We’ve got a trip to Ireland planned for the first week in November (!!!) which we’re super excited for, but we’re always looking for ways to celebrate our love.

This past Friday, we were both done early from work, so I met Holly down in Soho so we could find a nice Happy Hour (who doesn’t love a good Happy Hour?).  As I waited for her to get out of work, I had a hankering to visit one of our favorite special places here in NYC.  It’s got great food, great beer, and great…  Arcade games?

Yeah.  You got that right, Jack (who is Jack anyways and how did he get that right?), I’m talking about Barcade.

Barcade!

The first Barcade opened in 2004 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, then in Jersey City and Philadelphia in 2011, two Manhattan locations in 2014, and New Haven in 2015.  

Our very special Barcade is located in Chelsea, on 24th street, equidistant from the E and the F trains, which both run express to our neighborhood of Jackson Heights, so, bonus.  We haven’t had a chance to visit the other locations, but we’ve spent numerous occasions here, including our 4th Wedding Anniversary (sandwiched between a massage and a Punch Brothers show at The Beacon Theater).

We all love nostalgia, and Barcade touches all the right, nostalgic-like parts of your brain cavity.  With arcade games such as Tapper, Rampage, and Donkey Kong, you’re transported back to your childhood, except it’s cooler because you’re an adult now and you can do what you want and what you want is an extensive craft beer selection and a menu that features Tetris-shaped tater tots.

In this picture: Grilled chicken sandwich with fried onions, Tetris Tots, and a short rib grilled cheese (!!!!) with spicy mayo, beer, water.

We took two stools at the bar when we arrived (it was just before 5pm), and began perusing the beer list.  We were greeted by Brian, (who we later learned was the beer manager for that location), who was amazingly friendly and helpful, and more than willing to answer any questions we had, or let us sample a few beers before deciding (a sign of a great beer bar).

Holly ordered a Kent Falls Lade Øl Saison.  This is a “toasted hay grisette”.  Saison?  Grisette?  They’re nearly the same thing.  While a saison was a low ABV beer brewed for farmers to enjoy after (or during) a long day in the fields, a grisette was brewed for miners (Because nothing prevents black lung like a farmhouse ale!).

Lade Øl is Danish for “barn beer”.  The addition of toasted hay adds notes of grass, vanilla and spice to the funk and citrus of a traditional Farmhouse Ale.

I started with an Evil Twin Erase and Rewind #2 IPA.  Clocking in at 7% ABV, this is a punchy, citrusy IPA bursting with pineapple and orange, pine, and some malty sweetness.  Another hit from Jeppe and crew at Evil Twin.  

Evil Twin Erase and Rewind #2 IPA.  Also, a gorgeous array of taps.
Let’s talk food.  We decided to share a sandwich and some Tetris Tots.  We glanced up at the specials on the chalkboard, and I immediately drooled all over myself.  Why?  Check this monster out…

 Spicy chicken sandwich with shredded lettuce, chipotle aioli, and a pretzel bun.  Also, check out them crispy totz.  We were full.

Holly Kay’s next beer was from the always phenomenal Carton Brewing from Atlantic Highlands, NJ.  It’s called Sakura, and it’s a Gose brewed with sushi rice (!!!???) and cherry blossom.  Weird?  Yup!  But with Augie Carton, you always know he’s going to do you right.  

(Check out This Article about Augie’s philosophy, and you’ll see why I trust this dude with any beer he makes.)

As soon as Holly and I took a sniff of this beer, we glanced sideways at each other.  “Is it weird that this beer smells like sushi rice?”  I asked Holly.  “Yes.”  She responded.  “It’s brewed with sushi rice!”  I said.  She took another sniff…  “That definitely smells like sushi rice.”  The aroma was salty and sweet just like sushi rice, with lemon and floral notes.  Taste was tart lemon peel citrus, floral, and salty.  I’m hoping they have cans of this left when we visit the brewery next week, because this was out of this world.

My next pick was the Stone Farking Wheaton W00tstout.  This is a collaboration beer with everyone’s favorite need Wil Wheaton, and Drew Curtis (who runs the website fark.com).  This year’s iteration was brewed with rye, flaked wheat, and pecans (yummmm) and aged in bourbon barrels.  For a beer brewed by a bunch of nerds, this brew is a bully.  At 13%, it’s dangerous, because the smoothness of vanilla and caramel from the bourbon barrel plus the sweetness of the pecans make for a real easy drinker that’ll shove your head in a toilet and take your lunch money.  I want these dudes to continue making this every year.

Also, can we please all just look at this Star Wars-inspired label?  It’s unfair how cool this beer is.

W00tstout.  My sweet lord.

It was time for video games.  First was Holly Kay’s favorite…

Discs of Tron!  
My wife is amazing.  (Have I mentioned my wife is amazing?).  She always comes on top 10 on this game.  This time, she hit #7.  I thought I had a picture of it, but it turns out, when you get on the top 10, your initials blink on and off on the screen.  Of course, I took the picture when the initials weren’t on the screen.  So, you’ll just have to believe me, or come with us next time we’re at Barcade.

We then hit up Tapper, everyone’s favorite anxiety nightmare Bartending game.  We rock this one out all the damn time, although that probably has something to do with that we downloaded a free version (or was it 99¢?) of Root Beer Tapper for iPhone (the version inside Barcade is completely branded by Budweiser…) and we are now seasoned Tapper veterans.  I think we’re just naturally talented with our hand-eye coordination. 

In summary, you all should head to Barcade.  You’ll have an amazing time regardless, but if you have the pleasure of being served by Brian, prepare to have an elevated Craft Beer experience.  Thanks, Brian!

Until next time!

Cheers!

Pucker Up, or Just Another Article About Sour Beers And Also This One is Funny, I Hope!

I came here this week on the advice of two of our followers (still waiting for inspiration to strike on what to call you!!), Shelbie and Rick (whose Blog, Rickommended, posted its second blog entry today, and is all about food!), to write a post about Sours.  

Proof!

Lo and Behold, a few hours before I start to write, I see this link pop up on my Facebook page…

When Tart, Pungent and Funky Mean It’s a Good Brew

Dammit.  The New York Times writes an article on sour beer the day before I decide to write an article on sour beer.

You know what, though?  Their article, while quite well written, is dry.  It’s nice to see beer, and in this case, specifically sour beer, getting press.  Sours are amazing beers, and quite difficult to get right (basically you rely on a bacteria to infect your beer to impart the tart, sour flavor).  I enjoy their rating system (one to four stars) and they’ve got some great beer on their list.  But there’s no wit!  There’s no snap!  There’s no pizzazz!  I’d like to think that Benedict Beer Blog is full of wit.  And what’s interesting is, as I’m writing this, I cracked open a half growler of what should have been a LIC Beer Project Higher Burnin’ IPA, a nicely balanced, juicy and sweet IPA, but was given the wrong beer, and I’m pretty sure it’s an Ommegang Witte.  So now, not only am I full of wit, I’m full of Witte.  Take that, New York Times!  Hahaaaa!  (That’s a triumphant Hahaaaa!)

Sour beers were first (purposely) brewed in Germany and Belgium.  Back in the early days of brewing, it was hard to find a beer that wasn’t sour, whether intentionally or unintentionally.  Brewers would reuse yeast from batch to batch, and sometimes the starter yeast would contain bacteria or wild yeast strains.  Now, Brewers intentionally use bacteria or wild yeast to give their beer an acidic flavor.  Three common bacterias used to intentionally sour beer are lactobacillus (mm…  Milky…), Brettanomyces (also, still not sure if I’m pronouncing this correctly.  I say “Brett-a-NAH-mih-seas”, but I think it’s actually “Brett-AAH-no-my-seas”. How U say it??), and Pediococcus (hehe, coccus).

Breweries sometimes have facilities away from their regular breweries so that their “regular” beers don’t get infected.  Even when these measures are followed, bacteria can still form (see the great Goose Island Bourbon County infection and recall of 2016).  I tasted an infected Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee Stout, which I reference in my first ever blog post!  Normal flavors of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and booze, gave way to an almost raspberry chocolate cake because of the bacteria.  I liked it because I knew what I was in for, but I think a lot of people who paid a lot of money for that beer must’ve been pretty upset.  

Goose Island’s PR must be pretty fantastic (they got that AB-InBev money), they offered refunds and said they were learning from the new lactobacillus acetotolerans strain they discovered was causing the sour flavors.

One of the first sour beers I ever tasted was a Lambic, which is a spontaneously fermented sour (meaning they expose the beer to wild yeasts and bacteria found in the place it’s being brewed, mostly in Belgium).  The most famous, and sought after, brewery of these types of beer is Brasserie Cantillon, in Brussels.  I haven’t had a chance to try any Cantillon (my closest bet is to find it when it pops up at Tørst in Brooklyn), but it’s highly praised.  The first Lambics I tried were Lindemans Framboise (with raspberries added), and Brouwerij Boon Mariage Parfait Kriek (aged with cherries).  Another type of Lambic is Gueuze, a blend of new and aged Lambics.  These beers are sweet, tart, dry, and have a low ABV, so they’re great for summer (but drink them whenever you want because you’re an adult).

Let’s hop from Belgium over to Germany, yah?  Ict bin ein Berliner Weisse.  This is a German Wheat beer (what did I say?  This blog is so Witty!  Tell your friends!), low ABV, super tart and refreshing.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

Evil Twin Justin Blåbær, a Berliner Weisse brewed with blueberries.  Owner/brewer Jeppe Jarnit-Bergsö used to be a hair model, so they made a Teen Beat-esque label.  Baby, baby, baby, ohhhh…  This is one of Holly Kay’s favorite beers!

Westbrook Brewing Co Lemon Coconut Weisse Weisse Baby.  The tartness from the lemon is balanced by the smooth, creamy flavor of the coconut.  Oh, so tropical.  I shared this with Ryan Keogh, manager at Benedict Beer Blog favorite Il Bambino.  It reminded me of my honeymoon, and all the tropical fruit-infused Rum people were selling outside their homes on the walk from our hotel into town.  Yeah, we tried it and survived, and it was gooood.  I think this is a great, lower ABV option if you want to imagine being surrounded by the clearest ocean you’ve ever seen.  Loved this beer!

Another German sour style is called Gose (pronounced “Gose-uhhhh”…  Or, as Hermione Granger would say, “Win-GAR-Di-um Le-vi-GOSE-uhhhh”…  Also, why has nobody named a beer Wingardium LeviGose?). These sours are brewed with salt and coriander (!!) which makes these beers both tart, savory and with a bit of spice.  May look weird on paper, but trust a recipe that’s been brewed consistently since the 16th century in Germany…  It’s a relatively new style brewed in the US, but breweries like Westbrook and Lost Nation have some classic examples of the style.

Sour, Salty, Delicious.

Evil Twin and Two Roads Geyser Gose, inspired by a trip the Brewers took to Iceland, and brewed with Icelandic moss,  rye, herbs, Skyr (an Icelandic yogurt) and birch-smoked sea salt.  Sounds weird?  Sure.  Tastes amazing?  Absolutely.  

Evil Twin makes another Gose, called Mission Gose, that features the addition of Eucalyptus, which upped the refreshment factor by adding an herbal, almost minty quality to the tart citrus.  Amazing.

Modern Times Fruitlands Gose with Apricot.  The base beer is already sour, salty, and funky, and the addition of apricot rounds out the sweet, fruity flavor and is absolutely devine.  Get this beer if you find it. 

Two other styles of Belgian sours are Flanders Red and Oud Bruin.  Flanders Red are usually blended with both fresh and mature beer to adjust the flavor.  If you’re interested, try to find Rodenbach, it’s a classic interpretation of the the style.  Oud Bruin is a sour brown ale.  Try Goose Island’s Madame Rose, or Mikkeler Juice Bag.  I’ve loved both of those!

Most sours brewed in the US get lumped into another category called American Wild Ales.  The bacteria in these beers are either cultured or spontaneously fermented.  Here are a few of my facorites:

Grimm Rainbow Dome.  Grimm has made some amazing hoppy beers, and what they’ve done here is dry hop a sour ale with El Dorado, Columbus, and Cascade hops.  This leaves an unfiltered, gorgeous glass of basically orange juice.  So tropical, fruity, and absolutely crushable.

Stillwater and Other Half Rockstar Farmer.  OK, technically, this is a Farmhouse Session IPA, but it is fermented with Brettanomyces, so I’m counting it.  What I love about this beer is that in addition to the citrus tartness, you get some dankness from the hops, and funk, hay, and earthiness from the Brett.  Soooooooo damnnnnnnn goooooooood.  Shared this bad boy with Holly Kay over some salame and gorgonzola Crostinis with honey.

Finback Starchild, a sour ale brewed with grapefruit peel, which adds a nice citrusy bitterness to the acidity of the beer.  Another amazing brew from these folks in Queens (Ridgewood, Queens, represent, represent-sent)!
Pucker up, folks, and go out and try some sour beer!!  Hope you all enjoyed this walk through of this style, and I’m hoping you’ll all find something you love!

Cheers!

Benedict Beer Reviews, or Bradco Brew Visits the Benedict Biergarten!

Hello, dear readers! I feel like I need to come up with a name for my followers… Like Benedict Beer Babies? Flock of Benedict Beer Birdies? The Triple B’s? The Triple B-52’s?  The Triple B-Sharps?  The B-Boys? The B-Boys and Girls Club of America?  What do you think? Write in the comments below what you think you should be called.

This week, Holly Kay and I had none other than the man, the myth, the legend, known as Bradco Brew, over for a small bottle share.  This man makes some incredible home brews. His Strawberry Wheat and Blueberry Cream Ale are two of my favorites, and the perfect beers for these hot summer days (a comment about how hot it is.  I’m being topical!).  Make these again, please, Brad.

A blurry can and a crystal clear Bradco!!

Brad stopped at one of our favorite spots, Astoria Bier and Cheese, and picked up a four pack of different brews. I stopped at our local Foodtown, which, surprisingly, (or not so surprisingly anymore) has a great selection of Craft Beer, for a mix-a-six.  

This is a blog about beer.  But first…  Pizza.

Holly Kay got off work real early, and made two amazing pizzas.  The first was tomato sauce (my man Don Pepino makes a killer sauce and it’s super inexpensive, say what up to Donny P next time you hit up the grocery store to make a fresh ‘zza, that’s short for pizza, bro), fresh mozzarella cheese, and because we do what we want, some salty, delicious prosciutto. The second pie (yeah.  Second pie.  When we eat, we eat right.  The whole squad eats…  Two pizza pies.) was basil pesto (made from scratch!!!), fresh mozz, and the creamiest goat cheese you ever did see.  Holly baked those crusts so crispy, when you took a bite, the heavens opened up and a chorus of Pizza angels began singing songs of praise and wonder.  She’s an amazing wife.  And not only because she makes killer pizza.  I didn’t get to take a photo of the pies before the three of us devoured them, but you can paint yourselves a mind-picture and, not unlike the late Bob Ross, put it on a canvas and hang it in your living room.  You’ll thank me later.

The only known photograph of Holly’s pizza from Friday night.  Check out that gooey mozzarella and sweet tomato sauce.  AND THAT CRUST.  Pizza heaven.  Also pictured here, Off Color Brewing Apex Predator Farmhouse Ale, and some of the ingredients for an Old Fashioned.  Because we so classy.

We started off sharing the Off Color Apex Predator Farmhouse Ale.  The smell was funky, lemon, banana, hay, earth.  Taste followed, with lemon and orange peel citrus, dryness, and earth.  Holly was quoted as saying “The more something tastes like dirt, the more I like it.”  Great example of the Farmhouse style, I would definitely pick this up again if I see it.  Drink this instead of: Blue Moon.  Also recommended if you love this beer: Trillium Farmhouse Ale, Ommegang Hennepin.

Kelso Beer Co Pilsner was our next choice. 

 Pilsners are a difficult style, because there’s not a lot to hide behind.  You can throw in a ton of hops to a not-so-great IPA and it will taste amazing, but the beer will reveal itself after the hop flavors have faded.  With a Pilsner, it’s all about balance, and refreshment.  Kelso nails it, with a dry, crisp, bready, grassy, super easy drinking Pils.  Perfect for post-lawn mowing afternoon, or by the pool, or in the pool, or in the ocean, or on the beach, or on the porch, or just about anywhere.  It’s low in alcohol, and amazingly refreshing.  Great stuff.  Drink this instead of: any of those big name American adjunct lagers.  Also recommended: Victory Prima Pilsner, Firestone Walker Pivo Pils.

Next up: New Belgium Brewing and Brouwerij De Koninck Flowering Citrus Ale, from their Lips of Faith Series.

Lips of Faith Series is a series of beers by New Belgium that are either sweet, sour or spicy.  This iteration is a collaboration with Brouwerij De Koninck, from Belgium.  This is a summer ale that smells and tastes of key lime and lemon zest, with aromas of rose, citrus and herbs.  Again, put me outside on a porch at sunset with one of these in my hand, and I won’t be mad atcha.  Drink this instead of: a Corona with lime (this beer tastes like butt without a lime).  Also recommended: Stone Delicious IPA (made with lemon drop hops that give it a tart, lemon flavor), Lindemans Kriek (a sour, sweet lambic brewed with cherries).

To Øl Gose To Hollywood.  

These dudes from Denmark brewed a Gose (a traditional German sour beer brewed with salt and coriander) with the best oranges California has to offer (hence the name, Gose to Hollywood).  This was our favorite offering of the evening.  At 3.8% ABV, you could crush so many of these cans at a barbecue and not worry about grilling over open flames.  Super orange citrus, balanced out by a bit of salt and some FUUUUNK!  Because who doesn’t like funky-a$$ beer like every single day?  Drink this instead of: Blue Moon, Lienenkugel Shandy, Shock Top.  Also recommended: Westbrook Gose, Two Roads and Evil Twin Geyser Gose (brewed with Icelandic Moss.  Wild.).

Stillwater Artisanal Superhop.
This is a nicely balanced IPA from Maryland, with grapefruit, pine and dankness, balanced by some sweetness, and fruit from the malts.  Nothing to write home about, but still a solid IPA.  The artwork on this bottle is phenomenal, which is par for the course with this brewery.  Hand me this brew at a party full of beer nerds who like to talk about artwork as well as beer.  Drink this instead of: Sam Adams Rebel IPA.  Also recommended: Dogfish Head 60 and 90 Minute IPA, Green Flash West Coast IPA.

DuClaw Sweet Baby Jesus!  Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter.  Dessert.
Ever wanted to drink a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup?  Well, now that DuClaw distributes to New York, you can!  I brought this beer back from Pete Shelly’s bachelor party in DC a few years ago, so it wasn’t my first time with it, but Brad hadn’t tried it before.  It bursts with candy sweetness, chocolate, and peanut butter.  This was a great way to end a night of fruity, crisp, citrusy beers.  Our “dessert”.  It’s low in ABV (6.5%) so even after a long night of sharing and chatting, it won’t put you over the edge.  Put me in front of a fire (or even a Yule Log on the television) in the dead of winter with this bad boy in hand and I’d be happy as a clam.  Drink this instead of: Guinness.  Also recommended: Greenport Harbor Black Duck Porter, Moustache Brewing Co. Everyman’s Porter, if you want high ABV, Southern Tier Choklat.

There you have it!  All in all, a solid share.  Brad’s offerings won out over the Foodtown beers, but we had a great time, introduced Brad to the IT Crowd, which is a show all should be introduced to, and watched as much as we could of the Olympics via NBC’s garbage app for the Apple TV.  Seriously, it’s the worst.

Anyway, leave a comment below with what you, dearest Benedict Beer Blog reader, want to be called!  

Until next time!  Cheers!

The Perfect Storm, or Weird Surprise After Weird Surprise

Today is a special day.  It just so happens to be both National IPA Day, and, according to Facebook, #NationalGirlfriendDay, (The Perfect Storm) so I’d love to share a quick story that involves both IPA, my brother, and my ex-girlfriend who I married, Holly Kay Benedict, aka @hkbenny aka HBK The Heartbreak Kid aka The Little Negotiator aka The Holly aka My Love!

I adore my wife.  We fell in love in a whirlwind romance involving Karaoke, our friend Jeff, Jefferson Starship, Central Park in the middle of the night, and a wild raccoon that we named Stanford.  She’s smart, funny, talented, and strong willed.  Plus, she’s gorgeous (which is the icing on the cake).  She takes my breath away on a daily basis.

Holly Kay enjoying a Youngs Double Chocolate Stout at the Souveneer show (see earlier blog post BEER, I mean…  Here.)

Here we are, over 7 years later (5 and a half years married) and we’re preparing for a trip to Ireland in November to celebrate a belated 5 year Anniversary (we were at a wedding in Houston on our actual Anniversary, March 5th).  This will be a celebration of our love, and Holly intends on writing handwritten letters to each of the owners of the 5 B&Bs we’re staying in to tell them how excited we are to spend our anniversary with them.  

On Saturday, Holly called me on her lunch break as she was out on a walk through Soho.  We were chatting, and she suddenly said “I’ll be right back.”  She came back on the line about 30 seconds later, and I asked if everything was alright, and she said “Yes, I was just picking up your surprise!  You’re going to be very excited about it!”  I told her she didn’t have to get me anything, but she insisted that this was going to be amazing, and she had gotten a tip.  That was all she told me.  

So I spent the day trying to figure out what it could be.  I had a feeling it was beer related, but wasn’t too sure.  She’s a wily one, that Holly, so you never know what she could bring home (One time, she was dared to convince me she had bought a turtle.  I fell for it, hard).

On her subway ride home, she was texting me, and she asked me about Other Half Brewing Company.  She said “are they the ones who do the can releases where people wait for hours in line to get them?”  I said “Yup!  They had one this morning!” And described the three cans that were released that day.  She responded, “Cool, we should go do that sometime!”  I will refer you back to this post in which she says something similar and you can find out what our friend Kevin’s reaction was(!!!)

So I go to pick her up from the train station, and we’re walking home and chatting, and she says the surprise is something I’ll love, and would only get a few uses out of.  I’m figuring it’s beer related (I don’t know if you guys know this, but I write a Beer Blog.  You should totally check it out), but can’t think for the life of me what it would be.  We get home, she unpacks her bag and says “The surprise is in my lunch bag.”  At this moment, as I unzipped the lunch bag, I knew exactly what she had gotten me, but couldn’t for the life of me figure out how on earth she had pulled it off…

I pull out three 16oz. cans of fresh (we’re talking canned yesterday) Other Half IPAs.  Hop Showers, All Green Everything, and another IPA simply called ! .  I was a little in shock, because I swore she was at work, and she could have gotten up at 5am, drove to Gowanus (where the brewery is located) and then just stayed out all day and pretended to ride the subway home (she didn’t do that).

I asked her how on earth she pulled this off, and we’ll leave it at this…  It’s a secret.  She bragged “People waited in line all morning for this.  I didn’t have to wait in line.”  With a huge smile across her face.  How did I get so lucky?

From Left to Right: Hop Showers, !, and All Green Everything

Earlier this week, I found out that my brother Christopher had tried a Guinness in Ireland, his first drink he’s ever had, ever (also, he hated it).  This was weird for me.  It still is.  He texted me earlier in the day, “do you want to drink beer and watch baseball later?”  Readers, I don’t know if you understand the magnitude of how weird that text message looked in a thread under his name.  Anyway, I thought this would be a good opportunity for him to try some beers that are the exact opposite of Guinness.  Other Half is making world class IPAs, maybe he’ll like those.  Also, all three are presumably over 100 IBUs (International Bitterness Units).  Needless to say, these are not beginner beers, but maybe it was wishful thinking that we would immediately be brothers in hops.  

I cracked open the Hop Showers and poured some for myself, Holly Kay, and Chris.  Immediately we were all walloped upside the head with hops (which I love), dank, grapefruit, pineapple, lemon.  Not a ton of sweetness in the malt, but enough to sweeten that bitterness and let those hops dance (or in this case, punch.)

The next was ! , 8.5%, another dank, hoppy monster.  This time, on top of light citrusy grapefruit and pineapple, were flavors of herbs, green bell pepper, garlic and onion.  It was wild.  Chris liked this one better, Holly Kay was more of a fan of the Hop Showers.  This was my favorite of the 3, lots of flavor but still super drinkable, I picture crushing this at a beach (although at 8.5%, it would be nap time after just one or two).

All Green Everything was next on the docket.  I was hoping that the sweetness of the alcohol and malts (it’s a hefty 10.5%) would balance out the hops, but this is another hop bomb.  Craft a house out of hops and put me inside and I will live there until someone evicts me.  This was a balanced, well crafted, triple IPA with sweet, sugary citrus.  Also, not for beginners.  

I love insane beers like this one, but Holly’s favorite was still Hop Showers, and Chris preferred ! .

What a week full of beer surprises.  Chris surprises me with a photo of his Guinness in Ireland, Holly surprises me with three freshly canned IPAs, and I surprise Chris by destroying his palate with hops so he can’t taste anything else for the rest of the night.

Chris shared all three mega hopped, insanely bitter IPAs, which is brave, and I vowed to find him a beer he would like.  I believe, with time, we can become hop friends, (Holly, do you have any advice for him as a person who was forced to love hops because of your weirdo husband?)

For now, the search continues…

Until next time!  Cheers!