Daredevil an IPA guy? No, but Happy 50^th anyway

Happy 50^th Birthday to my childhood hero, Daredevil.

Marvel Comics celebrated a half-century of The Man Without Fear this week with a special over-sized issue (appropriately numbered 1.50) featuring three separate stories from some of the character’s best creative teams, past and present.

One such story, from the current team of writer Mark Waid and artist Javier Rodriguez, took a look at Matt Murdock at the age of 50 and his relationship with his not-like-him nine year-old son. Which, as DD fans would know, mirrors Matt’s own upbringing at the hands of his hard drinking, prize fighting father. It was Battling Jack Murdock’s death at the hands of the mob that fuelled the transformation of young Matt – blind, but with his other senses operating at superhuman levels – into the crimson-garbed crime fighter known as Daredevil.

But does he drink beer? This is a beer blog after all, so I better find some sort of connection.

A quick Google search later and I’m reading a story from Quirk Books about pairing comic characters with beer, and I find the writer choosing India Pale Ales to match up with our man.

IPAs, man!

The writer notes that the “flavourful and aromatic IPAs engage the senses more than the average beer, and will encourage you to rely on more than just sight, like Daredevil himself.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

The story goes to point out that IPAs are known for their bitterness and “as anyone who’s ever read a Daredevil comic can attest, bitterness and aguish run rampant in the life of Matt Murdock.”

Harsh, but true.

The fact that Daredevil doesn’t actually drink beer or do any kind of drugs at all – he being a supremely tuned ninja athlete with hyper senses and a dedication to his craft, not to mention being the son of an alcoholic – shouldn’t get in the way of a good story.

Because if he did love beer, our Man Without Fear with his sense of taste so refined he can tell you the number of grains of salt on a pretzel, would make a helluva beer competition judge. His sense of smell is even better and, well, I’ll let Marvel Wiki describe it:

Daredevil's sense of smell is so acute that he can distinguish between identical twins at twenty feet by minute differences in smell. He can detect odors of an atmospheric concentration of thirty parts per million. Further, his ability to remember smells enables him to identify any person he has spent at least five minutes with by smell alone, no matter how he or she might try to camouflage his or her natural odor. His powers of concentration are such that he can focus upon a single person's smell and follow it through a crowd of people at a distance of fifty feet.

With those mad skills at his disposal he’d be a whizz at identifying malt profiles and picking out the citrus subleties of a hoppy West Coast IPA. In his sleep.

The last time he DID drink beer, however, he ended ended up lip-locking with a sketchy woman in a seedy Hells Kitchen bar who turned out to be Mephisto, also known as the Devil. The real one.

Awwkward.

Better stick to judging.

*

My first day back from Florida made for an easy transition, with temperatures in the mid-teens and plenty of sunshine, so I had no worries about leaving the shorts on. Day two, however, took a turn for the worse and I ended up doing winter work, salting the sidewalks of our mall properties after our little mini-blizzard.

I missed Florida that day, but the shorts stayed on.

Day three wasn’t much better, as temperatures dropped well below zero and we spent Wednesday morning cutting up tree branches; the last (I think) of our clean-up from the early winter ice storm.

And still the shorts stayed on. If I have my way I won’t be putting on big boy pants until Christmas.

*

And now on to some more beers. I tried so many new IPAs on my trip I still have a backlog that will take me several MORE blogs before I’m caught up. So lets start with another brew from California’s Ballast Point Brewery: Big Eye. This seven per cent classic west coast IPA pours a deep copper, with a thick creamy head. With lots of grapefruit on the nose, this beer doesn’t tickle your palate as much as pummels it. Excellent IPA.

I tried a Pegasus IPA from Argus Brewery of Chicago as well and I was not as impressed. Very malty, with the malts (Cascade, Magnus and a special variety grown for the brewery) overpowering the hops almost entirely. Not bad, but not to my taste. Tastes like a black IPA.

The Small Batch 417 from Colorado’s Breckinridge was also underwhelming. This was also very malty (seems many of the larger craft breweries can’t get away from malt-forward beers) and again, I can’t smell much in the way of hops. Certainly not any citrus aromas, anyway.

And finally, because I want to end this blog on a high note, we have the Lagunitas IPA from Petaluma, California. This poured a nice copper colour with a thick head and there was plenty of citrus on the nose to satisfy me. A damn good beer.

Shout-outs to Steve, who hasn't written a blog in a bit, and to Don (Euro beers ain't so bad), and to Cat (Bad, bad Beer Store ads), who have.

Cheers!

Tsunami waves and shipping woes perfect end to Florida trip

I’ll miss a lot of things about Florida and Daytona Beach in particular. But I’ll miss the beach and the ocean most of all.

That’s where the J Man and I spent most of our time, playing in the surf and getting happily sunburned. We would make a game of wading into the crashing waves whilst holding our ground and our footing. Not always easy when the waves would break anywhere from three feet to six or even eight feet high.

I liked to turn my back on the waves (to show off and all) and there was one occasion on our final day when Jake, who had the full view of the oncoming tsunami, began warning me…”Daddy, Daddy, DADDY!” and I would pretend (showing off and all) not to hear him. And this wave – it must have crested eight feet high – slammed into me like, well, a wall of water. And drove me forward so hard my face scraped the sand below and I came up spitting salt water and sand, gasping for air and grinning like an idiot.

And Jake laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. “I just wish I had that on YouTube.”

The view from our balcony

Good times. Good times.

I’ll miss the birds of Florida as well, especially the Brown Pelicans. We’d see them flying over the strip in squadrons as large as 40 – yes, we counted – and always soaring imperiously, without so much as a single flutter of their feathers. I used to think these majestic birds would be better off soaring a few hundred metres farther east (say, over the ocean where the fish are), but I guess they knew what they were doing.

I won’t miss the hassle getting my new-found beer over the border, though.

I had already learned that I couldn’t ship beer – or any liquid – via carry-on luggage. No problem. On the way back I carefully packed my beer (just 16 left as I kept drinking my purchases almost as fast as I purchased them) in a beer box, complete with beach towel and beach volleyball for added security.

“You can’t ship beer, sir,” was what my friendly Southwest Airline representative told me. “It might explode on the plane.”

I was this close to having my head explode upon hearing that tidbit of news but I stayed calm and asked the nice lady what she suggested I do. “They ship beer this way all over the world,” I ventured helpfully.

“Let me check with my supervisor.”

And then Cheryl was gone, leaving me sweating at the check-in counter. Good thing we had to drop off the rental car, forcing us to get to the Orlando Airport early.

And yet there were no broken
bottles. It was a beer miracle!

It seemed like an eternity, but some ten minutes later Cheryl returned with good news. Sort of.

“We don’t actually encourage people to ship beer but my supervisor okayed it, as long as each bottle is bubble-wrapped,” she said. “It’s five bucks a bottle.”

She must have seen the look on my face because she quickly added, “but seeing as you packed it so securely, I guess it’s okay.”

And she even provided the tape gun.

I was already worried about changing planes in Baltimore – double the chances of losing my luggage, and now I’m thinking of smashed bottles too. I’ve seen the way baggage handlers handle cargo, and now there’s double the odds of damage as well.

I think next time I’ll just drive.

That Beer O'clock thing

And now for a few more beers. I’m still working on a backlog, so I’ll start with Ruination IPA, an 8.2 per cent, 100-plus IBU hop monster from legendary California beer makers Stone Brewing, that is billed as a “liquid poem to the glory of the hop.” You can certainly taste both the IBUs AND the hops in this baby, which gives you a swift kick in the face with every sip. Powerful stuff.

I was less impressed with Torpedo, an IIPA from Sierra Nevada. Lovely copper colour with a nice head, the beer had a piney, slightly skunky aroma. It was certainly hoppy and a decent beer, but I actually prefer their pale ale.

Ruination Imperial IPA from Stone Brewing

I tried Day of the Dead IPA, from Mexico’s Cerveceria Mexicana Brewery, and this 6.8 per cent beer delivered some of its hoppy promise, although its slightly too-bitter aftertaste and pungent aroma detracted from its rating slightly.

One beer that did impress was Ranger IPA from New Belgium Brewery of Colorado. This 6.5 per cent Colorado IPA poured a deep golden colour and with its use of Simcoe, Cascade and Chinook hops, offered up grapefruit and floral notes. I bought a six of this beer – I found it at most Florida beer outlets – and it got better and better each time I drank it. Very nice.

***

In case you were wondering, my beer made it back to Buffalo Airport in one piece. Or 16 pieces, if you prefer. Which is damn good, ‘because there are some beers in my fridge that I STILL haven’t tried.

Cheers!

Daytona - Beaches, babes and $1.50 craft beers

Daytona Beach is definitely more my speed than Orlando.

Not because it’s party central – it’s not peak season so it’s relatively quiet – but because it’s different. And that is part of the point of being on vacation.

Orlando has palm trees and warm weather, but we were staying at a downtown hotel and I can have that big city experience (and then some) back home. Here it’s beaches and ocean as far as you can see, and I can see it all from my seventh floor balcony. Just gorgeous.

That’s something I CAN’T get back home.

We may have come at a bad time, however. The strip is filled with good-looking, athletic women (and a few men as well, to be fair. Someone has to form the base of the pyramid), all in town for the National (college) Cheerleading Championships.

Jake and I will just suffer through it.

Jake and I at the beach

Not that I don’t miss my Orlando hotel, stuffed as it was with quirky, mostly drunken people from all over the world. There was always something odd going on in the hotel, from beauty pageants for children to tango competitions, and the lobby bar always seemed to have a fresh batch of eclectic people in it, from sequined Vegas-style entertainers – all in their 60s and 70s – to quirky, more than slightly drunk sculptors from Southern Ontario.

The bartender knew nothing of craft beer, but the Total Wines outlet down the road a bit sure did, and I will miss that.

Daytona has the next best thing though. It’s called ABC Wines and Spirits and it’s right across the street from our hotel. It had a pretty good selection of must-have and never-heard-of beers to add to my collection.

The problem I’m having is as soon as I start filling up my take home case, I start drinking them. And I’m running out of money to buy more.

I have managed to find the long sought-after Centennial IPA from Founders Brewery and its little brother All Day IPA. But more on that later.

Finding things to do for the J Man has been easy. The ocean is our playground and we have spent many hours having a blast playing in the surf. I don’t remember Jake being a particularly strong swimmer last summer. He sure as hell is now. He absolutely loves it here.

Daytona Beach baseball

We also found time to tour the Daytona International Speedway and we spent last night at Jackie Robinson Field, home of the Class ‘A’ Daytona Cubs, who just happened to be playing the Dunedin Blue Jays at the time.

Parking was a whopping $2, admission was $7 ($6 for Jake) and hot dogs were a buck. You can’t go wrong there. The real kicker? Craft beer was just $1.50. There was even some Long Hammer IPA down at the Budweiser Bar in the outfield, but I settled on some Fire Rock Pale Ale, a Hawaiian-style pale ale from Kona Breweries of, well, Hawaii. Nice citrus/floral aroma with a strong malt base. Not bad at all.

I mentioned the beer price to my seat mate and he said I went to the wrong booth. “My beer was just a dollar,” he said. “What are you drinking,” countered I. “Miller,” he said.

Uh huh. I’ll pay the extra 50 cents, thanks.

The other bonus was our seats were right behind home plate and the ball park was just crammed full of beautiful women of all ages. This place was, apparently, the happening hot spot in Daytona this night.

The iconic sign at Daytona Beach

And the Jays kicked some ass, trouncing the Cubs 12-2 to complete the three-game sweep.

Today we had lunch at Hibachi Grill, Daytona’s answer to Mandarin Chinese Buffet. Jake was a little disappointed that Florida doesn’t do chicken balls (his favourite, natch) but at $6.99 each, all you can eat, we both came away happy.

Most of the rest of the day we spent at the beach and having a wonderful time. It’s too bad we have to go home tomorrow.

I’m really going to miss this place. I just hope I still have some take-home beer left to remember it by.

(More) Beer O'clock

I’ve tried too many new beers to list here, so I’ll just give you a few, starting with a pair from Founders Brewery of Michigan. Their Centennial IPA is something I’ve been chasing after in Ontario for months, but there are lots here. It’s very good. Pours a deep copper, with a nice hoppy and floral aroma and a bitter after taste. Not sure if it’s one of “30 IPAs to drink before you die,” as one magazine called it, but it is damn good.

I was more impressed with the All Day IPA from Founders. This session ale is just 4.7 per cent and 42 IBUs, but it packs a powerful hoppy punch. There’s a strong grapefruit taste and the beer is nicely balanced. It also has a very appropriate name because I really could drink this all day.

Another winner was the 60-Minute IPA from Dogfish Head of Delaware. (I have the 90-Minute IPA waiting in my take-home case) Lovely orange/copper colour with a thin head, this six per cent beer tastes of citrus and bitter hops. Delicious.

Finally (for now) is Long Hammer IPA. At 6.2 per cent, this beer pours a hazy golden with a faint citrus aroma that dissipates to slightly bitter finish. Not bad.

I have many more beer to talk about, but that will have to wait until I get home.

Shout-outs to pals Cat and Steve - who haven't written much lately - and Don, who is working through his blog back load, starting with http://tinyurl.com/mp65ekw, also known as Don and Saga do Toronto's Spring Beer Festival.

Cheers!

Florida, like Captain America, rocks

I love Florida. I really do.

I’ve battled quicksand and culverts and I’ve spent a big chunk of my first four days here waiting in line, but Florida? You still rock.

Caught Captain America – The Winter Soldier with my son on our second full day here and while the movie was awesome, the pre-flick buzz was even better. I got carded. Yeah, this 54 year-old dude got ID’d asking for a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at the Cobb Theatre in downtown Orlando.

Thank you Ian. You made my day. And you gave me some fabulous trash talk material to use on my ex-wife, who used to get carded once in a while back in the day and always let me hear about it.

The line-ups that I mentioned earlier? That would be at Universal Studios theme park, where the J Man and I went today. Forty minutes to get into the parking lot; another 30 minutes or so get tickets and anywhere from 10 minutes to nearly an hour to get on the rides.

But I shouldn’t complain. It’s a popular theme park and lineups go with the territory. But all I could think about as the afternoon wore on was getting back to the hotel and going for a swim in the hotel pool, followed by a beer or three.

Totally awesome Total Wines

The beer, which was on ice in my fridge, was the prize from a visit to the Holy Grail for a beer lover in Orlando. It’s called Total Wines, and it’s what the LCBO and The Beer Store back in Ontario should be.

Never mind the aisle after aisle of wines. It’s the two or three full aisles of craft beer available in this place. Nearly every American beer you could think of was there, including IPAs I could only dream of.

My budget is tight, so I only bought $40 or so worth – all IPAs – this time. But I’ll be back before I go. Rest assured.

And speaking of The Beer Store, one of the staffers at Total Wine heard me raving about the selection of craft beers on display. "I guess you don't miss your Molsons and Labatts," he said with a smile, adding that he is an ex-pat Canuck from Ontario and he used to work for the The Beer Store years ago. "Now," he said, waving his arms at the vast selection of wine, beer and spirits on display, "I live in Orlando and work here."

Pretty sure he loves Florida too.

For the record, my shopping list included Cigar City Jai Alai IPA; Founders All Day IPA; Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA; Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and 90 Minute IIPA; Stone Ruination IPA (8.2 per cent and 100-plus IBU); Ballast Point Sculpin IPA; Mad River Steelhead IIPA; and Long Hammer IPA.

Like I (and Arnold before me) said: I’ll be back.

Beer O'clock (once more)

As of this writing I've got to just three of these amazing beers. As I'm in Florida, I figured I'd try the Jai Alai IPA first. It pours a cloudy orange with a thin head. Very bitter, with a pungent, piney aroma. Quite hoppy with a boozy finish. Very nice beer.

I went to the Racer 5 next, and this bottle conditioned 7.5 per cent California IPA was low on aroma but big on taste. It poured a deep golden colour with grapefruit and mango flavours and a boozy after taste. A damn good beer.

The last tester of the day was the Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point Breweries in San Diego. This seven per cent hop bomb was the best yet. Very hoppy (grapefruit for sure; hard to pick out the other citrus flavours) with a nice bitter finish; this was a gem of a find. Awesome beer!

This holiday is getting better and better.

Cheers!

Culverts and Quicksand and Six-Packs Oh My

The best adventures in life are usually unplanned.

Usually.

My adventure late Friday night in a Florida culvert, chest-high in muck and water with a six-pack of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale held slightly higher, was not one of those times.

I can laugh now, and my friends Cat and Steve, who got the short stack version of these events yesterday, are probably still laughing. But I can tell you I wasn’t busting a gut Friday night. There was even a moment or two, as I struggled to get a footing in the mud, when I even considered dropping the beer to save my skin.
But just for a moment or two.

My son and I arrived in Orlando Friday night and after unpacking our things at the hotel I was in need of a beer. Our friendly concierge suggested a gas station just a "hundred yards or so" down the road would meet my needs and pointed me in the right direction.

The "hundred yards or so" turned out to be nearly a mile, but who's counting, right? I made it and the gas station/convenience store - called Race Trac - carried beer, so it was all good.

The craft beer selection wasn't the best, but there was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and I had heard great things about it, so I picked up half a dozen and headed back to the motel.

There be (or could have been)
dragons in this ditch

On the return trip, instead of retracing my steps along the roadside, I found a sidewalk. Seems logical, right?

Except the sidewalk ended abruptly – within sight of the motel – with just a little gully in my way. I remember a little voice in my head telling me this may not be a good idea – it being dark and all – but I plunged ahead anyway and within a few steps I realized I should have listened to that voice. Especially after I suddenly plunged into four feet of water with a base of quicksand.

I kept going anyway, sinking deeper with each step and finding it increasingly difficult to free my legs from the mire. The beer was still held high, but when I was just a body length or two from the other side I got stuck. And I got to tell ya, I got a little scared.

I found a second wind, heroically pulled myself out of the mud and made it to the other side, but I wasn’t free yet. I had to hoist myself up onto the bank (after placing the beer there first), which is not as easy as it used to be.

Because I’m not as young as I used to be.

So there I was knocking on the hotel door, dripping mud and water and scaring the hell out of Jake. “What happened, Dad?” was all he could sputter.

“You don’t want to know, son. Just put these in the fridge, would ya?”

Mother Nature hates me

The next day was going to be much better, I told Jacob. After all, it couldn’t get worse. I had showered and changed after I got into the room and placed the contents of my wallet – one bill at a time – on the table to dry.

(My phone, however, wasn’t as lucky. It’s been in a bag of rice since then and has yet to recover. I’m afraid I may have to perform Last Rites soon.)

My enemies

In the morning we were outside the hotel waiting for the shuttle to take us to our next connection on this vacation and as the scene of my harrowing experience the night before was just a few steps away, I called the J Man to come over and take a look.

I'm standing on the bank of the culvert, looking at the creek below, and in the midst of re-telling the story - I'm sure the water was ten feet deep this time, and there were alligators -  when I feel a little sting coming from my sandaled foot. Then another, then a few thousand more.

“Ow. Ow. Ow. OW. OW!” I cry as I stumble back towards the bus, brushing off a few ZILLION red ants feasting on my ankle.

I was wrong. It did get worse.

Good thing the beer was good.

Beer O'clock

I haven’t had a chance to try too many of the craft beers yet, but I have had several of the Sierra Nevadas, which were excellent. Nice copper colour, decent head and just citrusy enough for my liking. Rate Beer agrees, giving it a 96.

I found some Sweetwater IPA at a local 7-11 in Orlando, and while this Georgia IPA was decent (Rate Beer loves it, giving it a 97 score), I didn’t find the hops as overpowering as advertised. Nicely balanced, though.

I also tried a couple of Flying Bison offerings at the Buffalo Airport while waiting for our flight. First up was Rusty Chain, a Vienna-style amber ale made with sweet German malts. I wasn’t expecting much, so I wasn’t disappointed. The next bar had some Buffalo IPA on tap, which is more to my liking. A mash of English malts and Australian hops (which may be the source of its poor Rate Beer Rating of 47), the beer was very hoppy, with grapefruit and floral notes.

Maybe it was the excitement of an adventure just beginning, but I really liked it. I think, if I was stuck in water and mud up to my chest and I was holding a six of Buffalo IPA, I’d do my best to save that too.

And to think this holiday is just beginning.

Cheers!

The Quest for the illusive Perfect IPA

A quest cannot be the stuff of legends without a few pitfalls, a wild goose chase or two and a few dead-ends along the way. A journey to anything wonderful, such as the Perfect IPA, should be epic unto itself.

But a quest is also about discovery, and when you don’t find what you’re looking for, it kind of sucks.

Still beats working though.

I’ve been on the hunt for a couple of special beers lately and while one remains illusive because it’s simply not to be found in these parts, the other is around. I’m just never in the right place at the right time to get it.

Founders Centennial IPA is a must-have beer for lovers of India Pale Ales (even making one list of 30 IPAs to Drink Before You Die http://firstwefeast.com/drink/30-great-ipas-to-drink-before-you-die/) and I made this Michigan IPA a target because product searches of the LCBO’s data base have always shown it on the shelves of selected stores in the GTA.

Almost always, however, the inventory number was one and we all know an inventory number of ‘one’ is not to be trusted.

I made the drive to a few stores anyway and placed numerous phone calls to others in the hopes of tracking a six-pack down. But Centennial IPA, like Dave, is not here, man. Or there either.

A little research of the LCBO warehouse solved the mystery, sort of. There is an order for 1,580 six-packs on hold with the brewery, awaiting delivery. ETA? Who the hell knows?

I lobbied Founders via Twitter to unleash the beers but, with the brewery preoccupied with the limited (scarce?) release of its Kentucky Breakfast Stout,  I haven’t heard back. No re-tweeting or favourite-ing either. But ever vigilant, I have vowed to stay on the case.

The other beer I’m hot to try but haven’t yet is Shoulders of Giants, the 10 per cent Imperial IPA from the Flying Monkeys Brewery in Barrie.

This is the beer that I was supposed to sample at its release party a couple of months ago but circumstances got in the way and have continued to prevent me from  drinking this enticing hop bomb ever since. I’ve seen it around – on tap at this bar or that – but I still haven’t made its acquaintance.

It is scheduled to appear on the LCBO shelves this spring, but Flying Monkeys – the people who make my beloved Smashbomb Atomic IPA – don’t have a date as to when Shoulders of Giants will go on sale. I sent a query to the LCBO as well, but I found no satisfactory answers there either.

It is available at the brewery itself, of course, but I was waiting for winter to go away before making the trek north.

The real kicker for me was last weekend when my pal Don of scored tickets to the Toronto Festival of Beer Spring Sessions at the Evergreen Brick Works. This is the man who mocked me because mutual friend Cat and I couldn’t make it for the Shoulder of Giants release party (http://tinyurl.com/m3b8934) and he’s emptying his pockets to make sure he had enough tokens to drink this stuff.

He texted me immediately. “Drinking Shoulders of Giants as we speak,” followed by “Soooo Good.”

As our other pal Steve would say: “Bastardo.”

Don also posted this (along with a pic) in a tweet to the brewery: Flying Monkeys. Had this yesterday @TOBeerFestival. Only because I needed room for others, I stopped at 4.

Love ya Don, but ... Bastardo. Jes saying.

But it wasn’t a wasted week (perhaps I should rephrase that) in my search for the Perfect IPA. I found My Bitter Wife, an annual offering from Great Lakes that showed up last weekend at Toronto-area LCBO outlets.

I had to drive from Oshawa to Don Mills to find it (#feelingleftoutindurhamregionagain) but it was worth the drive. Well worth the drive.

This aggressively hopped seven per cent IPA – produced as a tribute to Carrie Nation, a “nearly unstoppable force” behind the temperance movement and one who was known for her violent attacks, hatchet in hand, on bars and public houses all over the USA – was fantastic. I wish I had bought more than just the two bottles.

I got the usual grapefruit but also something tropical. Mango, I’m thinking, which is also how I would describe the colour. Bitter and boozy, this beer is not big on aroma but very big on taste. Not for the faint-hearted. Already on my all-time IPA list; right up there with Smashbomb and Brutal.

I was also pleasantly surprised by Beaver River I.P.Eh? from Beau’s All Natural Brewing. It’s listed as an English-style IPA so I had been hesitant to buy it before, but it’s actually a blend of English malts with American hops and it’s a marriage that works very well.

Rich copper colour with a creamy head, there’s enough hop character to keep me happy. The finish was a little bland but overall it has the makings of go-to session ale for my fridge.

La Morsure from Le Trou du Diablo, was another new IPA that made my acquaintance in the last two weeks.  Another mash of cultures, this beer is an American IPA with a strong malt character that overpowers the hops to some degree. Still quite citrusy (grapefruit, orange) and smooth as silk. An excellent beer.

Fire in the Rye from Double Trouble made my list as well in what was a busy couple of weeks for new beers. I had this once before but I remember being unimpressed, as well as Don telling me I had to give it another chance.

Maybe the first one wasn’t fresh. Or maybe I was tired. In any case, this stuff is awesome. Dark copper in colour, it was nice and hoppy like a good IPA but with a boozy finish like a good Rye Pale Ale. What was I thinking?

And just to show that I don’t live on IPAs alone, I tried 8^th Sin, a black lager from Hop City. The finish on this beer is mild – like most lagers – but the aroma of black coffee and chocolate is strong. My first black lager and the first black beer of any kind I liked. Nice.

Florida-bound Friday for a week in the sun with the J Man. A 12 year-old and his Pops kicking ass and taking names on the beach, drinking Florida IPAs (me anyway) and hitting up Disney World. What could go wrong?

Cheers!