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It's a bit sparse right now, but I've been trying to empty that shelf, which means it's working.

In no particular order: JK Scrumpy, Southern Tier The Warlock (Imperial Pumpkin Stout!), Surly Seviin (Belgian Strong Ale. These guys are a local craft brewery), Surly Hell (expect a lot of these guys from me), Tallgrass 8-Bit (Yay IPA!), and a Hinterland Maple Bock(WI crafter). There's a box with a few Sam Smith brews including their oatmeal stout (yum!). There's some Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro (Not really nitro in a bottle, never mind that it's not actually a nitro) in one of the cases, along with some of what's actually labelled on the outside. Note that I don't pick up cases, the Blue Moon pack I wouldn't have grabbed, but the Summit pack to the right I'd have been all over. Yes, there is also a bottle of Buttershots. Leave me alone on that. It is great in sweet tea though!

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The wine on the other hand... Needs attention despite regularly getting it. It needs more like bottle-in-hand attention. Most of this was picked up by my father, it's probably equal parts local and Cuvaison (A Napa Valley winery), with intermixing of whatever else looked good or came with recommendation. There's some Korbel mixed in, if only because any alcohol that funds a racing team is worth every penny.

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And this doesn't cover the cabinet of hard stuff. That I normally only touch on bad nights that need to not be bad anymore. Main go-tos for mixed drinks are rum/whiskey Cokes of increasing ratio, Margaritas (can't go wrong with tequila OR salt, let alone together), and an awesome "Iced Coffee" recipe I got from my boss that is total win:

1/4 Kahlua
1/3 Irish Cream
Remainder of glass is filled with International Delights mocha iced coffee

And it is AMAZING.

Also, if anyone uses the Untappd app, add me up: cmspaz

Seeing as i've only tried the woodchuck variety pack, how does it compare to that? (Since I can only compare it to that. lol)

I've never been a Woodchuck fan (Bubs would kill me for saying that, lol). Scrumpy is by far and away the best cider I've ever had. Better than Angry Orchard, which while good, lacks the body of the unfiltered Scrumpy. Crispin is good as well, so is Strongbow, but in the end I keep gravitating back to the Scrumpy. Everyone I've introduced to it has felt the same way.

I also have the buddy of mine who passed away in a motorcycle accident 6 months ago last week to thank for introducing me.

I decided to have a beer after dinner last night, and went for the Warlock.

It's basically a mixture of pumpkin pie and milk stout, in flavoring. It's sweet, but not too sweet, and the flavor is nicely complimented in both directions. Basically what I've come to expect from Southern Tier Brewing in quality. I liked it more than their Pumpking, but it is a bit more on the desert beer side, which means I'm ineviatbly stuck comparing it to the Creme Brulee, also a Southern Tier brew, which is by far and away the best desert beer ever brewed.

And of course, Untappd had to prod at me when I checked in, recommending Founders' Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) as a similar brew. Fucking hell, it needs to be winter again so I can try to track some down. To put the KBS into perspective, every single beer snob I know who has tried it has it at #1. It's that good.

Ohhhhh shiiiiit

5/30 Baileys caramel
5/30 Kahlua french vanilla
5/30 Takara shochu
1/2 Silk very vanilla soy milk


IT'S SO SMOOOOOTH AND EASY TO DRINK

I don't know why I didn't think of it before, fuck yeah

Man, you MUST be out of it, son. If you were sober you'd know that it's 1/6, not 5/30!

Bullshit-ass simplification...THE MATH STILL STANDS

Wow. Thanks for noticing that I turned 21 guys. GOSH! Just kidding, I removed my birth date so no one would notice. I had a pretty quiet birthday... For the most part... One of my friends knew and wanted to take me out to a 'gastropub' that I always talk about/frequent for BACON POPCORN. And so he did, swooped in from no where and took me to downtown he did. I didn't want to be mainstream and get a beer for my first drink so I went with a hard cider. Little did I know...

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Its the same hard cider that Spaz praises and loves so much. And for good reason! This stuff is amazing! I don't know my alcohol, but I can tell you that it was good! And then later on that week, another friend gave me a 6-pack of Redd's apple ale. I'm pleasantly surprised that I don't have a ton of alcohol in the pantry yet but I'd rather keep it that way anyhow. Getting carded for alcohol is cool and all, but I don't like my driver's licence picture.

LOL, my driver's license pic had my Jesus hair on it for quite some time after it was gone, that always resulted in odd looks and double takes.

Seriously though, Scrumpy FTW.

I suppose I should make an actual post in here, though...

Bell's Special Double Cream Stout. Nice and smooth, good, well blended flavor. Definitely something to order again.

Kona Pipeline Porter. Was a while back, I don't remember specifics. Was lightly smoked, not my favorite style of beer but it definitely had its merits.

Cisco Island Reserve Tripel Ale. Seriously, the best tripel ale I've ever had. Easily in the top ten for beers I can see through.

Widmer Brothers Alchemy Ale, an APA. I rated it well, so I must have liked it. Again, not remembering specifics. My fault for not updating.

Surly Darkness. One of the beers I most look forward to every year. Had it on tap shortly after release, so it wasn't properly aged, and it wasn't as good as last year's, but still by far and away top three for this year's dated brews. Never fails to disappoint. I did also manage to secure a single bottle from a buddy, I just have to pick it up. It'll be aged for quite a while before I touch it again.

Tried Angry Orchard when i was out 2 weeks or so ago up north. Made a pit stop to get snacks and what not for night fishing, got that. Gotta say.. it tastes just like Woodchuck Amber, but maybe I might be mistaken since I had that a month or so ago since I posted in this. It's good.

Just gotta find more Hard Ciders to try out, and maybe try reds ale, the apple and strawberry.

I've never had Redd's but I've heard it's quite good.

Color me unimpressed. It's apple flavored malt liquor. Tastes like it, too.

Noted. I'll still probably try it at some point to say I have, but it sounds like I was initially correct in assuming I wasn't missing much.

off the subjects of beers and ales, i'm not usually one for mixed drinks but i had a Liquid Marijuana a few weeks back, had captain Morgan in it for sure i forget the rest, but it was pretty good, drink one more often if it weren't near 6 bucks a drink

I generally just assume that I'm going to spend more than expected when I go out, even just for dinner and a couple beers... Even then I occasionally surprise myself.

Last Wednesday I think I spent like $50 including tip, an app, entrée, and two beers, lol. I always seem to find the spendy stuff.

I really think its the price of all this kinda stuff that turns me off from going out to the bar and drinking. Food is already expensive enough and good beer around here is around 10 bucks alone. Don't get me started on the mixed drinks. I'm not made out of money! I think at this rate, I'd probably spend most of my time drinking at home while watching TV like a lonely person...

I can agree to a degree, it does get expensive, which is why I usually have a lot of good beers at home, and I can take them with me to friends' places. Hell, not on happy hour, one of my usual bars has JK Scrumpy at $12. Yes, you read that right. I pick it up for $5.50/bottle from my usual liquor store. Actually, I drank one on Friday night, was just as yummy as always.

Yeah. When I got JK Scrumpy, it was 10 or 11 bucks at the bottle. I can imagine that half the cost of the alcohol when you're drinking out is paying for the ambiance of the bar itself. The place where I went to go get my first drink--oh let me tell you Spaz--is called the Salted Pig. Its probably one of the coolest pubs I've ever seen. They have bacon in almost everything. No joke, if and when you come to California to finally pay all of us a visit. Hit me up! Good food, good friends, and good booze. You can not go wrong with that.

Sounds like a plan! I need to get out there again, hopefully sometime this next year. Wining and dining engage!

May needs to be tomorrow and I need to get my ass down to The Salted Pig.

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Alcohol in excess never again. Some friends and I went to Yard House yesterday night for a late dinner and I read it was happy hour. That means half off on drinks too! I decided to throw out my ID and get a yard long of Orange ShockTop. It was good at first, holy canoli! It is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much. I had to force myself to finish it. I'm not a beer snob so I'm not going to try to review it, but I will say that I did like the kick it had. For me the little hint of orange came at the very end, very unique! I might come back to it way down the line for a revisit. Also... I have confirmed, alcohol goes straight to my face and makes me super hungry.

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only this

Had a bottle of Jameson to myself last night. I'm finally a Whiskey drinker.

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I got to try some Fox Barrel Pear Cider the other day. It was gooooooooooooooooood. Very sweet with almost none of the alcohol taste. And it smelled amazing. Like spring pears or something really flowery. I really really like it and this might just be my go to cider.

So, I went out bar/craft brewery hopping with some friends on Friday night, which was awesome.

Lots of darker beer was had, including a number of spiced winter brews and a number of chocolate stouts. Seriously my favorite time of year for beer.