Friday, September 25, 2009

A Pumpkin Treat

Well, I finally made it over to The Four Firkins in St Louis Park. I was not disappointed in me visit at all. It's like Disney World for beer lovers, if Disney World was in St Louis Park and sold beer. So it's not like Disney World at all really.

Anyway, I'm going to talk more about The Four Firkins in future posts, and I will be going back there as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'm going to give you some recommendations over the next few posts of some beers you might want to try if you go. Don't worry if these beers are not in stock - just tell them what you like and they'll steer you in the right direction.

The first beer I tried from there was from the Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland, Maine. Labeled as part of Pugsley's Signature Series
, the Smashed Pumpkin I got was unlike any beer I have ever tasted.


You will not be able to have one sip of this beer without thinking Pumpkin and Nutmeg. I was astounded at the depth of the flavor in this beer. I guess I have never had a pumpkin beer before. It had all that flavor, but the nice part was that it wasn't heavy at all. And as I was drinking it slowly, I was rewarded with even more flavor and aroma as the beer got a little warmer. The label suggests serving at 55 degrees, so you may even want to pull it out of the fridge for about a half hour before you open it.

And it was freakin orange, I kid you not.


Amazing color from an amazing beer. The picture doesn't show the clarity of the beer, but it was almost transparent, yet still had the orange color. It was $9 for the bomber, but I thought it was worth it. And hey, at 9.0% alcohol, you even get some bang for your buck!

One last thing - if you have access to the Sierra Nevada ESTATE bombers that were recently released, go ahead and suck it up and but one. You won't be disappointed. It was $10 a bottle at the Tonka Bottle Shop, and $11 at The Four Firkins, but it won't be around for long, and it was very very very good. I didn't bother to blog it because it's unlikely that you'll be able to find it anyway, but I thought I should at least mention it so that you aren't scared away by the price if you see it. At the Tonka Bottle Shop they aren't even putting it out, they are just asking people who they think might be interested in it.

Once again, if the liquor store guys tells you that he has something in the back room for you, and tells you that they are not putting it out for regular sale, just buy it, don't even ask how much it is. That's advice to live by.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Fantasy Football on Tap


Getting ready for the BFL Fantasy Football Draft in about a half hour. For those of you who don't know, BFL stands for Big Fun League. It's been big fun since sometime around 1990, and it has come a very long way. Lots of old high school friends, along with a couple of good guys we've picked up along the way.Almost as important as whom I will be drafting, is what I will be drinking. Here's a list, complete with pictures.

Round 1
I'll be starting it off with some Hop Juice, Double India Pale Ale from the Two Brothers Brewing Company. It looks really good, and I probably won't need to eat for a few days. I have high hopes for this one.

Round 2

I'll be following the Double India with my current favorite - Furious from the Surly Brewing Company. It's brewed right here outside of Minneapolis, and don't let the can fool you - this is some awesome stuff. It has been tearing up the local scene for the past 2 years, growing like crazy. It's heavy, and you know you are drinking some good beer while it goes down. Hopefully I won't hate my team by the time this one comes out.

Round 3

For the next round, I'll be tasting some of my old favorite, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Yes, President Obama will be with me, in the form of this comemorative glass that my brother in law brought back from the inauguration. Can the Minneapolis Liberals become BFL Champions? YES WE CAN!

Round 4


The BFL Draft is a marathon, it's not a sprint. And since I have been trying to lose some weight, and there are 90 calories in a Miller Lite (vs 270 in a Sierra Nevada), Miller Lite is coming to the party. It's just like water anyway.

Finally, if things go bad, or if the power goes out at the wrong time, there's always the one beverage that has never sent anyway on the wrong path: