The Beer Retard

Decided to buy a domain and move everything to beerretard.com. The new blog is on Wordpress and it looks rough because I haven't taken the time to play with the CSS Editor. I'll work on it.

I might keep something on LJ for any non-beer thoughts I want to vomit out. I hope you'll bookmark the new location or subscribe to the feed. I plan on stepping up my beer writing efforts this year. Given my track record, I realize that could be an empty promise. I hope not...

Happy New Year. As usual, I'm late with all the stuff I wanted to get up about 2008. To get things started here are five highlights of my year in beer:

1. Virgin homebrewing experience - Gotta admit it was big deal to brew my own beer. I may've been overly critical of the results, but it was a great experience and the beer was good enough to drink. Everyone I gave a bottle to was surprised that it was as drinkable as it was for a first effort (maybe they were just blowing smoke). All the credit goes to Matt and Brad of the West Sound Brewers, who guided me through every step from steeping grains to bottling. Hopefully, I can brew another batch with their help before I take the training wheels off and try to do my own thing.

2. Writing - Had the chance to write for both Seattle Metblogs and Examiner.com in 2008. Neither turned out the way I hoped (partly my own fault), but I'm glad I had the opportunities and gained some experience blogging for other sites. I'm also feeling good about helping start the Bottleworks blog. The guys at the store (Trevor and Shaughn) have taken the idea and run with it, but I will still contribute from time to time.

3. Beer Douche of the Week - These comics were, by far, the most popular thing I've done since I started this blog. A few people have taken issue with the idea, but the overwhelming majority enjoy the hell out of them. Too bad I can't draw...I might be able to really do something with it...

4. Beer Trips & Festivals - It wasn't a big year for beer trips, but I did what I could with the time off and money I had. In February, I went to the Toronado Barleywine Fest in SF for the first time and was able to try Russian River's Pliny the Younger during my time there. In April, I headed to the East Coast for a week and explored DC, Baltimore and Philadelphia. In July, I took the train to Portland for my second OBF. I also returned to SF and Portland later in the year for beer weekends. On the home front, I went to as many festivals as I could, including all the ones at Brouwer's (Hopfest, Hard Liver, Sourfest, Big Wood) and most of the big ones like the Washington Beer Commission's Cask Fest and Washington Brewers Festival and the SIB.

5. Russian River beers come to Seattle - Maybe it'll make me sound like a drooling fanboy, but Russian River's stuff becoming available here was one of the most exciting things that happened in Seattle this year. Being able to have Blind Pig, Pliny the Elder and Damnation on a semi-regular basis is pretty great (not to mention being able to try Temptation at the Big Wood Fest and being the only place where Deviation was available). Still waiting to see Blind Pig in bottles...maybe this year?

1. Brouwer's - Simple reason to go here often: they have the best overall beer selection in Seattle. They care about beer and you know you're never gonna get an off taste from a dirty line (a fresh line is used every time a new beer is tapped). Also, the food is (arguably) better than any other beer place in town. Plenty of good veggie options and don't forget to check the fresh sheet. There's always something tasty on there.

2. Stumbling Monk - Tiny place with 10 or so taps of Belgians and American-made, Belgian-style beers and nothing above $6.50 a glass. They also have a good and reasonably-priced bottle list. Close to where I live and almost always a good place to spend some time and have a few. My only complaint is that it sometimes gets a little Capitol Hill-douchebaggy in there. My favorite time to go is right after they open at 6. You can have a few beers in peace and be on your way.

3. The Dray - I've already gone on and on about why I love this place. If I lived closer, it would be my local.

4. Elysian Capitol Hill - Not a huge fan of hanging out here...it's probably the only place I go regularly where I have very little interaction with anyone at the bar. But it's on my way home and every couple weeks there's something new and interesting to try. The Arboreal Chestnut Brown Ale, Artemis IPA, Saison Poivre, Foster Child Australian Lager and Hubris Imperial IPA are just a few of the beers I've had there this year.

5. Hopvine - I have a love/hate relationship with this place. It's literally right behind my apt. building, so I end up here at least once a week. They usually have at least a few good beers on and they have $3 pints from 5-7 pm. They also have great soup and the other food (pizza, sandwiches, etc.) is decent. The main things that rub me the wrong way about this place are the shitty music the staff always plays (think weak-ass indie crap) and my hatred for the people that frequent the place. Almost every time I'm in here, I feel a strong urge to punch someone in the face. Also, on the beer-douche side, I don't think they give a shit about beer. The bartenders don't know much about the beers and, more often than you'd think, you'll get beers that don't taste the way they should.

A couple more places: one that used to be in the Top 5 and one that might crack the list in 2009:

Big Time - It used to be in my Top 5 earlier in the year, but I don't find myself going as often since the end of the summer. It has nothing to do with the beer. Along with Elysian, the Big Time is the best place to find new, interesting local beers. But since a few of my favorite bartenders left, I don't find myself wanting to spend as much time here.

Collins Pub - Only a short walk from my work, but I don't get here that often. Big reason for that is the crazy happy hour crowd, but I need to make it here more frequently. I went in a few days ago and they finally have a chalkboard draft list on the wall. A lot of good stuff on tap including: Pliny the Elder, Doggie Claws '07, Ninkasi Sleigh'r and the newest in New Belgium's Lips of Faith line, a Dunkel Weiss.

At the beginning of the year, I made some Beer Resolutions for 2008. Let's see how I did:

Buy homebrew supplies and brew my own beer: Didn't get my own homebrewing setup, but I did brew an American Pale Ale with the West Sound Brewers on Big Brew day. I wasn't that excited about the results, but it was drinkable. It was fun and I'd like to brew more and get better at it. Grade = B

Take several beer trips, including ones to the East Coast, Bend (OR), Portland (for another OBF), Denver (GABF) and either Victoria or Vancouver: Didn't do as much beer traveling as I'd like, but I went to Portland twice, once for OBF in July and once for a weekend in November. I also got to the East Coast in April and went beer hunting in DC, Baltimore & Philadelphia. Can't wait to go back to Philly...the 24 hours I spent there was one of my best beer days of the year. Grade = B-

Write about beer 3-4 times a week: No big surprise that I didn't follow through with this one. I was doing well there for awhile when Seattle Beer Examiner was going strong, but things went to shit the last couple months. I'll keep working on it. Grade = C

Attend as many of the local beer festivals and events as possible and continue to make friends in the local beer community: Skipped a few things, but managed to hit most of the festivals and big events. Met several cool people and plenty of blowhard douchebags along the way. My socially-retarded, introverted nature makes it difficult for me to "network" like some people do, but just getting out and drinking all over town has been good. Grade = B

Try at least 200 beers I've never had: Kicked ass on this one. My list is at 290 and counting. Look for my list of 10 or 20 most memorable beers of the year soon. Grade = A

Give podcasting another go with a new, revitalized format: Nope, but there's always hope for next year. I've got equipment, an idea and a name. Just have to motivate my partners in crime and get to it. Grade = I

Pay more attention to less hoppy styles of beer: See, I knew hop burnout was coming a year ago. When it hit hard, I tried to go off the hops for a month and went back to them after 8 days. This is still a work in progress... Grade = C-

Take steps toward being able to leave my current job and make a living doing something beer-related: Talked about it constantly, but didn't take any steps toward making it happen. I'm starting to think this isn't a realistic goal, but haven't completely given up hope. Grade = D

Take list-making and documenting to new OCD heights by keeping track of every beer I drink (see how long that lasts): After a couple weeks, I realized that I drink far too much beer to do this, so I settled for keeping track of all the beers I've never had (plus this year's seasonals that don't always taste the same). B-

Some would say I don't have any local beer pride. I'm pretty sure I've said that San Diego, Philadelphia and Portland are better beer-drinking destinations than Seattle. That's blasphemy to local beer enthusiasts, so I figured I'd better make amends by showing some love to the place where I live. In no specific order, here are my 5 Most Memorable Locally-Brewed Beers of 2008 (technically 8 since I had some ties):

1. Big Time Old Sol & Old Wooly - Big Time's summer release of Old Sol Wheatwine and winter release of Old Wooly Barleywine are among the most anticipated beer events in Seattle each year and they never disappoint. I can't tell you how they compared to last year's batches, but I can say they were both very tasty.

2. Elysian Arboreal Chestnut Brown - I'm always bitching about how we need more flavorful, locally-brewed session beers and Elysian came through with this one. I think it was around 4.5% and it packed in the usual maltiness of a brown ale with a crazy dry finish (I'm guessing from the chestnut flour). I only had a couple glasses of this, but I would've been happy to have many more.

3. Pike Cerveza Rosanna/Big Time Serrano Puzzano - Pike and Big Time both brewed chili beers around Cinco de Mayo and both were interesting and well-executed. The Serrano Puzzano was a little more in your face with the heat and that made it a slight favorite over the Rosanna for me. Hope they do these again in 2009.

4. Elysian Hubris Imperial IPA & Schooner Exact Dry-Hopped Cask 3-Grid IPA - You knew there had to be an IPA in here somewhere and there was a tie for most memorable. Batches of Elysian's Hubris seemed inconsistent, but the first time I had it at the Capitol Hill pub (and one other time at Elysian Fields), it was right up there with Big Time's Double Decade as the best made-in-Seattle IPA I've had. Equally memorable was Schooner Exact's dry-hopped cask of 3-Grid at its One Year Anniversary party at Beveridge Place back in January. I couldn't stop drinking it and must've had 4 pints over the course of the evening. I hope Schooner does something similar for their Two Year Anniversary next month.

5. Pike Entire Wood-Aged Stout - Didn't expect to like the Entire since I figured it might be too bourbony or hot with alcohol (9.5%), but it surprised me. Smooth as hell and everything was balanced so you got all the flavors without any one thing smacking you in the face. I've heard the bottled version may not be as impressive (maybe it needs to be "laid down"), but the draft batch I had at the Dray was impressive.

Some honorable mentions: Laughing Buddha showed a lot of creativity with their Ginger Pale Ale, Mango Weizen & Purple Yam Porter. They aren't beers I'd reach for often, but they're worth trying. Also, Kevin Forhan over at RAM Northgate made a lot of good beers. I tried most of them at festivals and can't remember the names of them, but I know there was a Saison that was very tasty. It's too bad RAM is in a damn mall...a place I'm not likely to go even though I'm interested in what he's doing.

The beer events just never stop. Here's what Seattle has this week (thanks to the commenters who helped me fill in the gaps in my original post):

12/15
Georgetown's Full Throttle Bottles is co-hosting a winter beer tasting with the BottleNeck Lounge tonight. $10 gets you four 4-ounce tastes plus a full pint. Beers served are: Anderson Valley Winter Solstice, Iron Horse Quilter's Irish Death, Gulden Draak Vintage Ale 2008 and Delirium Noel. In addition to the beer, there will be snacks, t-shirt giveaways and other merriment. Gets under way at 8pm at the BottleNeck at 23rd and Madison.

Also on Monday, yet another Big Time event. This one is a brewer's night at Latona Pub. Not sure what Bill Jenkins will be bringing, but I'm sure they'll have some good stuff. Things get started at 8pm.

12/16
Naked City Taphouse is hosting a brewer's night featuring Everett's Lazy Boy Brewing. Brewer/Owner Shawn Loring will be in attendance and all Lazy Boy beers will be pouring at Happy Hour prices. They'll also have raffles for brewery t-shirts and glassware. Things get started at 7pm.

The event formerly known as "Wreck the Randall" continues this year as the Santa & Friends Pub Crawl. This night of debauchery starts at 5pm at the Pub at Piper's Creek and makes stops at Brouwer's, The Dray and the Park Pub before finishing up at Duck Island at 8pm. Many of the revelers will be in costume, but all that's necessary for this night is the ability to drink a lot and the desire to spread holiday cheer (or something like that). At the Duck at 8pm, they'll be tapping a keg of Full Sail's Wreck the Halls Randallized with Centennial hops and a keg of He'Brew Bittersweet Lenny's RIPA Randallized with rye whiskey wood chips.

12/15 to 12/17
Brouwer's is showcasing beers from Delaware's Dogfish Head this week. Several beers from Dogfish's lineup (60 Minute IPA, 90 Minute IPA, Indian Brown Ale, Raison D' Etre, Chicory Stout & Punkin Ale) will be pouring all week. Special kegs will be tapped at 6pm each night from Monday-Wednesday. Monday is the 120 Minute IPA, Tuesday is World Wide Stout and Wednesday is Pangaea.

12/18
On Thursday night, West Seattle's Beveridge Place Pub is hosting their first sit-down tasting at the pub's new location. Admission is $40 and includes all beer tasting, snacks, tax and tip. Beers offered include: Palma Louca (Brazil), Hitachino Celebration ’06 (Japan), Hambleton Toleration (England), Anchor Our Special Ale ’07 Magnum (California), Hair of the Dog Fred Batch #? (Oregon), Quatre Centieme (Canada), Haand Dark Force Stout (Norway), and a few Belgian beers not on BP's regular menu. You have to pre-pay for this one and space is seriously limited, so give them a call and make sure there's still spots available. If you don't get a seat at the tasting, you can still enjoy good beer at BP...they're also going to be tapping a cask of Schooner Exact's 3-Grid IPA that night.

I remember something on some blog somewhere a long time ago, where people answered 5 questions on Friday or wrote a list of 5 things. I can't remember exactly what it was. As a quick and easy thing to do, I thought I'd revive this Friday Five with a weekly list of beer-related stuff.

Today's list is Five Go-To IPAs. This year, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm a hophead and I'm always gonna reach for IPAs and other hoppy beers first. There's no way to wean myself off them, so I have to embrace my addiction.

This is not a list of the five best IPAs I've ever had (think really insane shit like RR's Pliny the Younger) or what I think are necessarily the best IPAs on the planet (although a few of them are) since there are so many from the Midwest and East Coast I've never tried. This list is five IPAs that I've had enough to know that if I see them in a bar, I'm having one automatically. They're solid, reliable, go-to beers that I'd gladly sit and drink 3 or 4 of in a row.

1. Russian River Blind Pig

2. Green Flash West Coast

3. Port Wipeout

4. Bear Republic Racer 5

5. Caldera

Someone will probably say, "you live in Seattle...no Washington beers?" Boundary Bay, Anacortes, Big Time, Elysian, Walking Man, Schooner Exact, etc make fine IPAs, but I'm still reaching for these five from CA and OR first.

So what are your five go-to IPAs?

Walking into Brouwer's last night was almost like being at the Big Time six months ago. Almost no seats available at the bar and there's Nat, sporting his trademark tie and pacing back and forth drawing pints for the thirsty. Nachos, baked potatoes and pizza are coming out of the kitchen. It was as if Brouwer's had become the Big Time. If they'd brought in a shuffleboard table, the metamorphosis would've been complete.

The reason for this tranformation was Brouwer's paying tribute to Big Time's 20 years of brewing. All of Big Time's regular beers (Prime Time Pale, Atlas Amber, Coal Creek Porter, Scarlet Fire IPA, Bhagwan's Best IPA) were on tap along with limited stuff like the Hop de Mensonge Belgian IPA, 666 Belgian Strong Dark Ale and Yulefest Christmas Ale. Getting there early proved to be a good call, as bottles of Old Wooly were brought out and poured into snifters at around 6:30.

On the food side, Brouwer's kitchen staff put their spin on items from the Big Time menu. All the familiar offerings were there: pizza, sandwiches, nachos, baked potatoes and chili. I had a cup of the veggie chili and tried some of the nachos and both were extremely tasty. Not to knock the quality of Big Time's food, but if they made stuff this good I would look eat there often, not just when I was into my third beer and desperately needing something to soak up the alcohol.

Between all the events held at Big Time last week and this celebration at Brouwer's, the community did a great job recognizing the 20th anniversary of one of Seattle's best breweries. Hopefully, they have at least another 20 good years ahead of them...

Last week, the Big Time turned 20 and celebrated in style all week long. Monday was the release of the 2008 Old Wooly Barleywine. I went despite having just Amtrak-ed back from a crazy weekend of beer drinking in Portland (more on that later). The Wooly tasted good, but not so good that I wanted more than one glass. It's a big beer and a little goes a long way. They had bottles to go but I didn't grab any since the price went up to $13.50 each. The markup didn't seem to bother some folks, though...I saw several people taking home entire cases.

On Wednesday, I came back for Cellar Night. Head Brewer Bill Jenkins brought out all kinds of surprises in both kegs and bottles and the bar was more packed than it had been for Wooly night. I only stayed 30-40 minutes, so I can't be a completist about what was brought out during the entire night. While I was there, draft offerings included older vintages of Old Wooly, Old Sol Wheatwine, Damned Spot Scottish Ale, Trombipulator Tripel and a beer called Emeritus, which I was told was an Imperial IPA brewed by Jenkins and former BT brewer (now with RAM Northgate) Kevin Forhan back in 2005. I tried the Emeritus and it was interesting. Not much hoppiness there after 3 years, instead it came across more like a barleywine or old ale.

As cool as the tap selections were, the best part of the night was the bottle sale. Like the taps, these changed all night so I can only say what was there during the short time I stayed. For only $4.95 you could buy 22 oz. bombers of: 2005 Decade IPA, 2007 Damned Spot, and 2007 Powderfinger Rye. Also available at the same price were this year's versions of Trombipulator, Paxton's ESB, Kölsch 45, Nemesis Strong Ale and Brown Bombshell.

If all this wasn't enough, as I was about to leave they put two crazy selections on the board: 7 oz. bottles of the 1996 and 1998 Old Wooly. I ended up leaving with a bottle each of the Older Woolies and bombers of the Trombipulator and Nemesis. I probably should've bought more. Wonder how 10 and 12-year-old Wooly's gonna taste...

3 hours sleep and a lot of drinking at Brouwer's Big Wood Fest and Big Time's cask night has left me unable to write much. All I can do is try to stay awake at work and then make it home where I'll sleep like a bastard. I'll catch up on the activities of this crazy week soon. For now, enjoy the photo of Nat enjoying Big Wood in his own special way.

Stuff I need to write about over the next several days:

T-giving weekend in Portland
Big Time Cellar Night
Brouwer's Big Wood Fest
Big Time Cask Night
Bottleworks Trevor's 30th birthday bar crawl

I'm a dumbass. I forgot to mention that, as of a couple weeks ago, Bottleworks (a.k.a. the best place to buy beer in Seattle) has a blog maintained by yours truly (with help from BW staffer Trevor). So far we've been doing weekly updates on beer shipments and quick posts on special beers, tastings, etc. There may be other stuff like staff bios complete with cross-dressing photos, beers of the month with douchey descriptions and whatever else our feverish minds can come up with. The site doesn't look great, but we'll work on it. For now, it seems more important to get information out to people. Hope you'll take a look and consider bookmarking it or subscribing to the feed.

Alright, it's time to fess up. The Under 6%/No IPA Challenge ended on Day 9. Truthfully, I knew it was over on Day 8. Here's what happened: on Friday night of the week before last, I was sitting at home drinking a Kostritzer Schwarzbier (4.8%) and thinking about what to have next. I got a text from Brouwer's telling me that Russian River's Blind Pig had just been tapped. This was the moment I'd been waiting for since I first heard Russian River beers were coming to Seattle. The Blind Pig is one of my favorite IPAs. I'll take it over Bear Republic's Racer 5 or Firestone Walker's Union Jack or Boundary Bay or Anacortes. I'll even take it over Pliny the Elder. If it hadn't been Friday night, I would've been on the next bus. But braving Brouwer's on a Friday night is like entering the fifth circle of hell. There's no way I was setting foot in there even if they had 20 of my favorite beers on tap.

I ended up heading over early on Saturday and fell of the wagon. After 8 days of no IPAs, having a Blind Pig was intense. It seemed even hoppier than I remembered. Man, it was so good...so tasty, so drinkable. I think I had 5 pints before the day was done and I had no regrets. Everyone who said I wouldn't make it the full 27 days, please feel free to gloat and say I told you so. I failed and I'm not proud of it.

Despite my failure, the 8-day experiment taught me some things. Imposing tight drinking restrictions makes going out no fun. Sitting at home with beers was fine and gave me a well-needed break from high ABVs, IPAs and going out. I'd hoped the challenge would be a good way to reset things and it was.

The most important thing I got from th experience was a reminder that there are other beer styles out there and I shouldn't neglect them. If I don't show some balance in my drinking, I'm going to burn out and get in a rut again. So far, I'm practicing what I've learned. The other night, I went out and had three beers. I chose three different styles, two of which were easy-drinking, subtly-flavored beers followed by one very hoppy, more potent selection. I left the bar with only a mild buzz and a feeling of satisfaction with the beers I'd had. If I can keep that up, the challenge was worthwhile even if I didn't see it through to the end.

It's been awhile since the last BDotW. Too long...

I took my own advice and did most of my drinking at home this week. This challenge is a lot easier when you have hundreds of beers to choose from at a bottleshop. When I go out to beer bars, I'm finding that I can only drink one or two beers out of 15-20 on tap (and those beers are usually pilsners). It's frustrating as hell and it doesn't give me the chance to try a broad range of styles. Maybe I need to check out some new (to me) bars...places like Feierabend. All German beers on tap = lots of under 6% choices. Here's what I had Monday-Thursday:

Roslyn Beer (4.5%, 22 oz. bottle) - I've seen this beer around Seattle for years and never tried it. What can I say, I'd heard it wasn't anything special and I had my IPA blinders on. The brewery is about an hour and a half southeast of Seattle and they make two beers, this dark lager and a pale lager called Roslyn Brookside. Beer Advocate calls the Roslyn Beer a Munich Dunkel and it looks like one, dark brown with a reddish tint to it. Tastewise, it seems to mix the Dunkel with a Schwarzbier because I got a decent amount of roastiness, which you don't normally get in a Dunkel. I liked the beer, it was drinkable...but there was an odd twang to the malt sweetness that bothered me. I can't really say what it was. Didn't seem like an off flavor, just this ghost of something that kept sneaking in from time to time. I'll have to try this on tap and see how it's different.

Rogue Oktoberfest (4.2%, draft at Hopvine) - Went into Hopvine on Tuesday and my options were seriously limited. It was either the Baron Pils or this Märzen from the Rogue John's Locker Stock series. I was surprised how much I liked this one. It's definitely a subtle beer, which is something you don't get from Rogue that often. The malt flavor was more complex than I thought it would be. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and crisp enough to keep me drinking instead of slogging through and wishing I could have a Port Townsend Hop Diggidy. Maybe I'll be learn to embrace lagers after all...

DeKoninck Amber (5.0%, 330 ml. bottle) - This has to be the most mellow-tasting Belgian beer I've had. You don't get any of that distinctive Belgian yeast flavor you find in so many of the country's beers. If I'd tasted this blind, I might not have thought it was a Belgian from the first few sips. If you get douchey and swirl it around in your mouth and make an effort, there is something that says Belgian hiding way in the background. It's subtle as shit, though. The flavors that do come through seem to be mostly from the malt. It's almost like an American amber with a little something extra lurking under the surface. Glad I tried it, but when I go back to drinking without restrictions, I can't see a reason to drink this beer unless I'm in a Belgian beer bar, my palate's all blown out and I want to manage my sobriety.

Moylans Dragoons Dry Irish Stout (5.0%, 22 oz. bottle) - I don't drink stouts much these days and I'm not sure why. I used to love them. Before I got into craft beer, Guinness was my beer of choice at my local (The Dovre Club) in SF. Since I've moved to Seattle, I don't find myself reaching for Guinness or any other stout. There are a couple of good ones made locally (Pike's XXXXX and Elysian's Dragonstooth), but they're well over 6%. Luckily, this one from Northern California comes in under the mark. I enjoyed the Dragoons, it sure as hell looked good. Couldn't smell much, but tastewise it had the coffee roast and chocolate you'd expect and it finished pretty dry like the style says it should. It was a solid beer all around. Not something I'd go out of my way to have on hand, but a beer I'd reach for if it was there and I was in the mood for a stout.

Day 2 of the challenge was fun, but Sunday's Day 3 seemed more like work. I took a trip to the recently-opened Naked City Taphouse over in Greenwood and one look at their draft list had me wondering why the hell I was bothering with session beers. Naked City had their first house-brewed beer (a Belgian-style Dubbel) available. They also had Pliny the Elder. Those could've been my two choices, but I stuck with the plan and went under 6%.

I chose two from Bellingham's Chuckanut Brewery, a place whose beers you don't see a lot of in Seattle. I started off with their Organic Amber (5.0%, draft), which was flavorful enough but reminded me I'll always have trouble getting excited about drinking an amber ale. It's such a middle-of-the-road style. You get some malty sweetness and a little bit of hoppiness and even when it's done well, it's not something that you want to go back to over and over. If I'm going subtle, I'd rather have something that's got a bit more personality like a Dortmunder or a Schwarzbier.

My second beer was Chuckanut's Kölsch (pictured above, not sure of the ABV but definitely under 6%) and it was pretty solid. Light and crisp with a yeasty edge to it, the beer was an easy drinker. I thought it was a little odd that Chuckanut would be rolling out a Kölsch in November, but I was lucky to have it as an option. I also had an order of pickled hop shoots, a great bar snack which are like really skinny asparagus with a spicy, bitter kick to them.

After leaving Naked City, I went back to Brouwer's and got frustrated at my limited under 6% options and all the good stuff I could be drinking. I had an Iron Horse Saison(4.5%)(which I'd had on Day 2) and a Bavik Lager (5.2%, draft), which was just okay and didn't break me out of the pissy mood I was developing. The tasty mushroom-stuffed-mushroom appetizer with the smoked cheese helped, but I'll admit I was considering saying "fuck it" and drinking whatever I wanted. Hopefully the next 20+ days of this challenge won't be like this. I need to stock up at Bottleworks and start drinking more at home.

On Day 2, I put the challenge to the test by drinking all over town. Here's what I had:

Iron Horse Saison (4.5%, draft at Brouwer's) - First stop of the day was Brouwer's. A look at the tap list told me that only 8 beers out of 60+ fit my under 6%/no IPA restrictions and I wasn't overly excited about the choices (Bavik Lager, St. Bernardus Wit, Baron Pils, a couple German hefeweizens, etc). Part of the goal of this is to try beers out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to start with something I know I like. There was one beer that fit that description: the Iron Horse Saison. Unfortunately, we couldn't find ABV information at the bar or online. I ended up calling Iron Horse and the brewer gave me the good news, it's only 4.5%. Surprising that it's so low considering how much flavor it has.

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen (5.4%, draft at Brouwer's) - Still at Brouwer's and I'd missed this one on my first look at the beer list. The Rauchbier is something you rarely see on tap, so I had to get one. I've called this beer "liquid bacon" when I've had it out of the bottle, but on draft the smokiness isn't as strong. I also thought it seemed a little thinner than the bottled version. I'm glad I had it, but I guess I expected more. It's still a beer worth having.

Buckbean Black Noddy Lager (5.2%, can) - Two beers in and home for dinner, I decided to open up a can of schwarzbier from a brewery in Reno, Nevada. They'd sent me samples of their two beers (the other is an Orange Blossom Ale) a few months back and my procrastinating ass never got around to writing about them. The Black Noddy has good flavors, a little chocolatey and a little roasty. I like this style and this is a decent example. The only complaint I have is that it was undercarbonated and had no head.

Rainier Lager (4.7%, can at Hooverville) - Enjoyed this because I drank it the proper way: ice cold and in less than 3 minutes. I have nothing against Vitamin R, but the only reason I had one was because I found myself at Hooverville across the street from the Showbox SODO. I was meeting friends to see Danzig play, but after throwing down my can of Rainier, I found out the show was sold out. My friends who had advance tickets said it was amazing, Danzig played for 2+ hours and owned the stage. I missed out but there was more beer to be drunk.

Victory Prima Pils (5.3%, draft at Collins Pub) - After my half-assed attempt to see Danzig, I walked back downtown and stopped by Collins Pub, where this East Coast pilsner was one of the very few options I had among their 20 taps. This one felt like cheating because it's a damn hoppy pilsner. After the beers I'd had before it, the level of bitter and hoppy in this one felt similar to an IPA. Maybe I need to revise the restrictions by adding hoppy, American-made pilsners to the forbidden list.

Ommegang Rouge (5.5%, draft at the Stumbling Monk) - "Wow." I said that word a lot while I was drinking this beer. It really surprised me. Some Belgian-style beers I've had from Ommegang (Hennepin Saison for one) haven't done much for me, but this one...wow. It's a Flanders Red and it's tart as hell and fucking delicious. The sourness coats your mouth with every sip and stays there awhile. That's a good thing unless you don't have a taste for the sours. Turns out the beer is a special release made in collaboration with Belgium's Brouwerij Bockor and went through spontaneous fermentation and oak aging for 18 months at Bockor’s facility. Hands-down, this was the best beer of the day.

So what, if anything, did I learn today?

The obvious: Drinking beers under 6% lets you drink a lot and not get hammered. I barely caught a buzz over the 8 hours it took me to drink 6 beers. That comes in handy during a long day at a festival or on a beer trip where you have one day to visit as many spots as possible.

The not-so-obvious-but-still-not-surprising: There are plenty of flavorful and satisfying beers that don't have a shit ton of hops and clock in at 5.9% or less. I could be perfectly happy picking a handful (a few different pilsners, a schwarzbier, a saison and a sour beer) and drinking them exclusively for the month.

The problematic: A big part of this challenge was to try things out of my comfort zone and drink beers with more subtle flavors. Beers like the Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen, Victory Pils and Ommegang Rouge aren't exactly subtle. I need to guard against the tendency to find only the biggest-flavored beers under 6%.

When planning for this challenge, I knew my friends at Bottleworks would be the ones to go to for advice. A few weeks ago, one of the BW guys, Shaughn, introduced me to a beer that I'll drink even when I'm not imposing restrictions. The Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier (4.3% ABV) is the perfect choice to begin a transition to more subtly flavored beers because it's not your average helles lager. It's brewed in the same kettles the brewery uses for its Rauchbier, so you get an edge of smokiness without the use of smoked malt. It's nowhere near the bacon-in-a-bottle quality of the Rauchbier Marzen, but there's enough smoky flavor to elevate a perfectly good helles to something more substantial. I have a feeling I'm gonna be drinking a hell of a lot of this beer over the next month.

As usual, I got complacent and stopped writing about my Texas trip midstream. Weak...I know. To sum things up, I'll just say that Texas surprised me. I had a good time and drank mostly good-to-very-good beers during my trip. If you find yourself in Austin or Houston (or even Dallas or San Antonio), try some beers from Real Ale, Live Oak and St. Arnold. Visit the Ginger Man or the Flying Saucer or find a cool dive bar with a couple good beers on tap. Chances are you'll find something good to drink if you put some time and effort into it.

Now on to the big news. With some encouragement from fellow beer enthusiasts (especially Craft Beer Radio's Jeff Bearer), I've decided to take on a beer drinking challenge to fight against the hop burnout I've been experiencing lately. I've become too dependent on IPAs and Imperial/Double IPAs as go-to beers and I feel like a reset is needed. So...after the IPA-Cask-o-Rama at Beveridge Place Pub this Thursday (24 Washington state cask IPAs in Firkins and Golden Gate kegs on the bar), I'll follow these rules from November 7-December 3:

1. Only drink beers under 6.0% ABV (I realize this is pushing the session beer thing but it would be too limiting to lower the number to 5% or even 5.5%).
2. Do not drink any IPAs (I'm not strictly prohibiting regular pale ales, but I will try to avoid intensely hopped beers that aren't classified as IPAs like Deschutes Hop Trip)
3. Make an effort to try beers I don't normally drink (this means plenty of lagers).

A lot of people think I'm crazy to do this during winter beer season. Someone even told me I'm gonna get sick and catch a cold or something if I'm drinking lighter beers instead of fortifying myself with winter warmers and barleywines. I'm not crazy into those beers anyway and I figure they'll still be there in December.

Originally, I was going to follow these rules for 30 days, but I lowered it to 27 to allow me to go crazy on the first day of Brouwer's Big Wood Fest on December 4th. I feel like 27 days will be enough because I usually drink at least 2 beers every day (gotta enjoy life while my liver is still functioning). I'll try to document everything I drink during the challenge and I'll share thoughts on what, if anything, it's doing for me. If there are any standout sub-6% beers you think I should try, let me know.

For my second day in Austin, I considered doing the #3 Bus Drinking Tour suggested by Lee from I Love Beer. Unfortunately, I didn't get an early enough start and had to settle for hitting as many places as I could on foot. My starting point was the Austin Public Library on 8th and Guadalupe. From there, I planned to go to two brewpubs (Uncle Billy's Brew and Que and Lovejoy's) and three beer bars (the Ginger Man, Dog & Duck and Scholz Garten). I only ended up making it to two of those places.

My first stop was Uncle Billy's. Since it was 70 and breezy, I figured the 2+ miles from the library to the brewpub would be no problem, but even when it's cool and breezy in Texas you sweat like a freak thanks to the humidity. I finally got to Billy's all pitted-out and walked straight into freezing cold air-conditioning. Good thing I brought the hoodie. Anyway, Uncle Billy's seems like a pretty cool place. I just had a couple beers but didn't try the food (supposed to be great bbq, but veggie sides are all you've got here if you're not a carnivore).

Continuing to postpone my break from hops, I had the Ax Handle Pale Ale and the Summit IPA. The Pale Ale was just okay (it was hard to taste anything for the first half of my pint since it was just a few degrees above freezing), but the Summit IPA was really good. The brewer for Uncle Billy's obviously loves the West Coast IPAs and he's made one that could hold it's own with the best of them. Based on how solid the IPA was, I should've stayed and tried the Thick Black Smoke, a rauchbier that people are saying is pretty damn tasty.

After another long walk back downtown (relatively sweat-free this time...maybe I channeled my reptile side), I hit the Ginger Man. Yes...this is my kinda place, dark and cavernous with just a bit of daylight filtering in through a skylight in the ceiling. The bartender was cool, she knew her beer and offered me samples of stuff I didn't want to commit to like St. Arnold's Divine Reserve 7, a weizenbock that was tasty but pretty boozy and not something I wanted a 10-ounce pour of. I had three local beers: the Live Oak Pilz, Real Ale Rio Blanco Pale Ale and Real Ale Full Moon Rye (on cask).

The Live Oak Pilz was crisp and refreshing, a solid pilsner that I would drink a lot of if I lived in Texas. The Real Ale Rio Blanco wasn't something you'll remember for long after drinking it, but it goes down easy and tastes fine. The Real Ale Full Moon Rye, on the other hand, is something you won't forget. I'd tasted it the night before and liked it, but on cask it was even better. WIth less carbonation, you really get the full effect of the spiciness of the rye. The flavor was so strong in the first few sips, it took me by surprise. The bartender said that you rarely see the beer on cask, so I was lucky to be there that day.

One more thing to mention about the Ginger Man. They have one of the best bar snacks I've come across: empanadas. These things are perfect beer drinking food, they hit the spot without slowing you down and give you a burst of sobriety that lets you have that one extra pint without getting too hammered. Someone in Seattle should start serving them. Maybe The Dray--their Rosemary Mini-Melts are my other favorite bar snack.

Next up: some Austin odds and ends including trips to the Draught House and Whip In. Soon after: my beer adventures in Houston.

After a 4 hour flight from Seattle to Houston and a 3 hour drive from Houston to Austin (with a few white knuckle thunderstorm pockets on the way), I was ready to drink some fuckin' beer. Seriously, I'd worked up a powerful thirst. I would've been happy to hit the nearest bar and drink whatever was there, but instead I had a swanky dinner with my parents at Olivia.

The food at the restaurant was great. Fancy-pants stuff, but it had substance to go with style. We had stuff like arugula and pear salad with peppered goat cheese, grilled red snapper, risotto, etc. But this isn't a food douche blog. Let's get to the beer. I had two Real Ale beers with dinner and both were good.

The first was the Lost Gold IPA and it impressed my jaded West Coast hophead tastebuds. I know I said I was over IPAs, but I'm giving myself slack during this trip and resetting my shit when I get back to Seattle. Anyway, this IPA had more of a hop kick than I expected from a beer brewed in the Lone Star State. I'm not sure if I was just jonesing for a beer so hard that anything would've done the trick, but whatever the case...it was good.

I followed the IPA up with the Brewhouse Brown. Again, I was impressed. Even though it was served way too cold, it had that chocolatey thing going on and had a hop edge in the finish. So definitely an American version of the style, but also a flavorful one.

After dinner, I dragged the parental units to Opal Divine's Freehouse since it was $2.50 Texas beer night. I can't remember a time when I've ever gone out with Mom and Dad for a round. It was kinda weird, but not so bad. All three of us ordered a different beer--I had the Live Oak Oaktoberfest, my Dad had the Live Oak IPA and my mom went with the Real Ale Full Moon Pale Rye Ale. All of them were various shades of decent, but the Real Ale Full Moon was the best of the three. I like that spiciness you get from a rye beer and this one had that working for it.

At the end of a long day of travel, it was a pretty good introduction to Austin beer. I was able to try a bunch of stuff and everything I tasted was decent to very good. Looking forward to a full day of beer adventures on Day 2.