Tag: Beer

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blah blah Beer…and the UFO Club

1150203_10201323363140355_1685182083_nI don’t know that it’s even possible…but I’m going to try to write this 30 min post all about beer.  I don’t know if I can fill 30 min with beer thoughts…but I’ll give it a shot.  Why?!  Well, because I’m currently at the The Flying Saucer (Addison) drinking beer 151 (of 200) in my UFO Club membership.  When I have drank my 200th unique brew…I get my own plate.  I’m wondering WHERE I get my plate…because I started this membership in Austin.  I guess my plate will be in Austin.  Who knows….we’ll cross that bridge in 49 more beers.  They let you count up to 3 beers per visit.  So, I’m looking at AT LEAST 17 more visits…maybe I can get this done before 2014.  We shall see…

My membership started in 2008, and (ACTUALLY) it was Ronald’s idea.  So, I wouldn’t say that I really got serious about trying to finish this until this year.  Looking back at my stats…it appears that I drank most of my beers in 2008 and 2013.  I have to say – I’ve learned a lot about beer.  I wouldn’t claim to be any kind of expert, but I do know more about what I like & don’t.  For instance, my early brews included: Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen, Blue Moon, New Belgium Sunshine Wheat…lots of other wheats & obvious choices.  Now, I’m more drinking the local/craft brewers and seasonal selections.  That may not be due entirely to my taste/preference, but perhaps it’s due to striving for unique beers to add to my list.  Also, it seems my list is comprised predominantly of draught beers…only 10 bottled choices.  I guess I don’t see the point of drinking bottles at a “draught emporium”.  So, I should have developed some favorites along this tasting adventure…right?!
I’d have to say I still like the Hefe-Weizen & Oktoberfest beers.  They’re just so quaffable.  I also like Dunkel Weizen – no big leap there.  Sounds like I like German beer, huh?  More recently, (2011) Ronald & I were in London and draught beer took on a new meaning.  Fuller’s is popular there and I’d have to say one of my current favorites is Fuller’s ESB (English Pale Ale or Bitter – right?).  Speaking of that style – my other reigning current favorite is probably Dallas based Peticolas Royal Scandal.  While in London, I also got to have some Fuller’s Organic Honey Dew.  My my…I sure wish I could find this beer locally.  If it’s anywhere draught or bottled…I haven’t seen it.
I’ve also identified some of my less favored beers.  For example, I had a bad run in with Oskar Blues Ten Fidy (Russian Imperial Stout) a few years ago.  Funny thing, I obviously was interested in Imperial Stouts…or I never would’ve been drinking it in the first place.  While the Russian Imperial Stout itself is really not to blame…nor that specific incarnation by Oskar Blues…other circumstances and the hang over from Hades that followed…lead to an eventual beer recovery…but with the exclusion of Oskar Blues brews, all Russian Imperial Stouts, and many of the very perfume-y hoppy brews (like some IPAs).  Maybe some day I’ll make it back toward those…but something about perfumey hops really turns my stomach even YEARS later.
Stouts & Porters are still enjoyable, but it’s a little hit or miss.  I’d have to say that my ALL TIME/OVER ALL favorite brew is Anchor’s Our Special Ale (brewed annually for sale November-January also called Christmas Ale).  Maybe it’s the fall/holiday time, its seasonality, and/or the fact that it was born in 1975 (like me) that make it such a favorite for me.  Just writing about it – I can hardly wait for Thanksgiving to get here!!  It’s also bears mentioning – Ronald & I visited Anchor Brewery in San Francisco on our honeymoon (the week after Thanksgiving).  It was already a favorite, but that may have helped to seal the deal.
Well, look at that my time is up.  I did write about beer for 30 min…and it looks like I could keep going.  Who knew?!?!
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Am I A Beer Snob??

I’m not exactly sure when I went from a young 20 something drinking light beers – you know, just because…to having a strong preference for beers produced with adherence to the strict “Reinheitsgebot” (German Beer Purity Law).  Anyhow, I was chatting with someone the other day and they referenced a mutual friend as a “beer snob”.  I wondered…Am I a Beer Snob??

I’m not sure that I am…because there is still the frequent occasion (floating down the river, sporting events, Mardi Gras parades, a hot summer day) where a Miller Lite seems to hit the spot.  Maybe it’s just nostalgia…because that’s what my grandfather used to drink…and if it was good enough for him…

My earliest recollection of drinking brews with a little more “style” and living the “pub life” began at The Draught Horse in Austin, TX.  Now, it’s called The Draught House Pub & Brewery.  It’s a very no-nonsense pub that opens its arms to all beer drinkers in the Austin community (young, mature, hip, nerdy)- but makes little concession for individuals that perhaps don’t show the appropriate respect to the “Beer Gods”.  I’m pretty fond of this place…I started drinking something exceedingly tame back around 1997 like J.W. Dundee’s Honey Brown.  Then, I was introduced to and learned to love Guinness…as well as had a date that transformed a friendship into a romance (that guy’s now my husband)…all at the Draught House.

At some point (many moons and years later), a new flashy neighbor moved into the Austin area – The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium.  Having already met The Flying Saucer in North Dallas…I was predetermined to detest this new suburban beer establishment…and secretly hoped it would attract away the newly minted poser type folks from my beloved Draught House Pub.  However, I was somehow lured there for a friend’s get together…and I was rope-a-doped by the U.F.O. Club.  Yes, that’s right I learned to have love for two distinctively different draught drinking establishments (gotta love that alliteration!)…all because of a club that let me keep track of my beers tasted with my own magnetized card – for a chance to hit 200 beers and earn my place in the Ring of Honor.

Having more recently moved back to the North Dallas area, I can still visit The Flying Saucer and add beers tasted to my list, but I still dearly miss my little Draught Horse (I have a hard time calling it Draught House).  So, I will share with you my list of beers tasted – I’m at 83 (the pace slowed considerably in the last 2 years).  I’ll let you decide?  AM I A BEER SNOB?

***Also, I’ll share my favorite beer of the moment…is Spaten’s Premium Lager.  It’s so PURE and DELICIOUS!