The Craft Beer Exchange: 2011

Thursday, December 22, 2011

#CBE6

The Craft Beer Exchange

Volume 2 Issue 2 December 19, 2011

One of the best things about this blog/newsletter/waste of time is honesty. For instance, I’m not embarrassed to say that I just spent 10 minutes trying to find some deep quote or song lyric on the interwebs to open up the newsletter. Alright, it was more like 20 minutes, and I am a little embarrassed, but I said it anyway. Instead of coming up with some witty banter, I thought a poignant piece of prose would actually make this, the opening and hardest part of the newsletter, easier to write. I was, in fact, cheating. Cheating on you, and cheating on myself. The point is, I wasn’t able to find anything fitting enough to describe the newsletter, the group, the number six, or that we’re at it again (although I thought I was close when I was perusing the lyrics of a Janet Jackson song by the same name.) So screw it, right. So I was unsuccessful in finding some beautiful peace of modern literature that would have opened up the #CBE6 with a bang. So what if I couldn’t find a motto or quote that would have summed up another striking trip to Brewers Outlet. So what? It’s not like finding a quote was going to force anyone’s hand into leaving a comment on the page. There are only about 6 people that actually read this anyway. Right?

Anyway, #CBE6 went old school, and not the Dogfish Head barleywine type of Olde School. I’m talking about he school they burnt down to build the old school. We went all wild up in Brewers Outlet (and by we I mean everyone but me.) Surprisingly, the all wild card showdown only netted us 4 IPA’s. 1 Pils, an Imperial Stout, a Belgian, and a 2700 year old Wine/Mead/Fruit/Spice/Ancient Ale. Balance my people; balance. I’m super impressed.

“We’ve come a long long way together,

Through the hard times and the good, 

I have to celebrate you baby,

I have to praise you like I should”

– Fatboy Slim

(Yes! Finally) @TheCBEOfficial

And now on with the show…

Selections:

Let’s go right after the Dogfish Midas Touch. I was kind of surprised to learn that this is only our third selection from this Delaware brewery. I read somewhere recently that they are now the 12^th largest brewery in the US. This a blog, that as noted previously, only has 6 or so readers, so don’t expect me to site that fact. This isn’t a post grad writing class. With the crazy story on this one, I was expecting a slightly better description from the DFH website. Instead I got this…

This was the first beer in our Ancient Ales series.

This sweet yet dry beer is made with ingredients found in 2,700-year-old drinking vessels from the tomb of King Midas. Somewhere between wine and mead, Midas will please the chardonnay and beer drinker alike.

I mean, they went back in time by scraping dirt out of drinking vessels. Had some wacky scientist analyze the dirt inside those vessels, indentifying ingredients, and whatnot. And then made a beer based on those findings. And instead of bragging about it like normal people, the go with “somewhere between wine and mead.” Whatever. I’ve had it, it’s awesome, it’s going to be great on Christmas morning, and you guys will probably enjoy it because it packs a 9.0% abv punch.

I was not shocked at all to discover that this next beer, is the 5^th selection we’ve had from this CA brewery. Lagunitas Czech Style Pilsner, or simply PILS. All other marketing departments take note…

Czech Style Pilsner

Like Adam and Eve, Issac and Ishmael,Mao and Confuscious, Good and Evil, Day and Night, Hittites and Visigoths, John and Lorena, or Groucho and Moe, Ales and Lagers are as different as can be. Still, we must love each other for who they are, seperately but equally, with liberty, and justice, for all. Cheers!

Now that ladies and gentlemen (I’m stretching, I know there are not any female readers,) is how you describe a mother F’n beer. I also leave the grammatical and spelling errors in the Lagunitas description, because I find them endearing, and also because the Good Lord knows that there are always several in my newsletters. I like to think of them as editorial content. I had one of these last night, and it was delish. Crisp, tasty, nice bite, and not over-the-top. And I enjoyed it for what it was.

I don’t know if anyone noticed this, but Paul Revere is on the can riding a motorcycle. Shit does not get anymore bad ass than that. Nothing says FU more to the Brits than Paul Revere on a motorcycle. 21^st Amendment Back in Black IPA is the AC/DC of beers. That pun was too easy to make, and you can’t be mad at me for not passing on it. This newsletter doesn’t write itself, but when it does, I have to take the opportunity. This is our first canned selection, and after I had one last night, the contest for my favorite selection of #CBE6 was over. I mean, it’s Paul Revere on a motorcycle, announcing the British are coming… In A Can!

Inspired by Paul Revere's midnight ride, we rebelled against the British style IPA, embraced the more aggressive American version and then recast it in bold, brave, defiant black. Our Black IPA is a Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of the expected.  Back in Black is our newest year-round beer available now in six pack cans and on draft. Brewed like an American IPA but with the addition of rich, dark malts, this beer has all the flavor and hop character you expect with a smooth, mellow finish.

https://www.kotisdesign.com/estore/buy.asp?job_num=22444&product_num=66&estore=21st-amendment&category=Unisex+Apparel They’re only 18 bucks and make great Christmas presents. Now someone text my wife, tell her I write a blog about a beer swap, and I’ve included a good gift idea, and if she orders it tomorrow before noon, with express delivery for Saturday, she can still sneak it under the tree. Thank you Santa.

There is a good reason I put the Back in Black IPA and Old Heathen next to each other in this issue. Unable to make the actual #CBE6 because of a last minute call, I had to put my faith in @G_o_o_d_y to make my selection. And the dude did not disappoint. Credit where credit is due, he knocked my request out of the park, and the only downside was I had to load my beer up in two paper bags because the bottles did not fit in the tiny cases that the 21^st Amendment cans came in.

Rich, velvety and deliciously complex, Old Heathen (8.0% ABV) is a truly distinctive stout. We use seven types of malt and two varieties of hops to bring forth this big brew.

I have not had one of these in a long while, and am looking forward to the December days when it is not 60 degrees outside to drink one. http://weyerbacher.com/ would be a great CBE outing. The brewery reminds me of a little garage, in the middle of nowhere Easton, where you can mix a case of their awesome beers. I usually fill mine up with Merry Monks and Double Simcoe.

Anything about monkeys is pretty awesome. I’ve never had our next selection, but I am definitely excited about trying it. The http://www.lefthandbrewing.com/ website is pretty cool, and mildly trippy (h3tty.) I would recommend at least a couple beers before you go check it out. It has this to say about the 400 lb Monkey…

WHY DOES THE WORLD NEED ANOTHER IPA?

Because this one ain't like them others.

We use hops of a different color, earthy and herbal, well-balanced by bready malt. The result? An English-style IPA that separates itself from the ubiquitous bunch. Cartloads of bitter monkeys flinging wasteful amounts of bananas into the jungle . . .we're so done with that.

This is kind of cliché, but I don’t really know what else to say. I don’t have any good 400 lb Monkey stories, this is only the second beer I’ve ever known to be named after a monkey. Are gorillas monkeys technically, because in that case, it’s three. This, Golden Monkey and Silverback. Huh, I guess I was able to come up with some filler.

http://www.leffe.com/en/beer/leffe-blond now this is a website. Nice relaxing music, tells me what foods pair best with this beer, a guy reads the description to me so I don’t have to. I’m enamored. Wait… I can’t copy or paste anything. Well that sucks, F this website…

ELEGANT

Leffe Blond is the flagship of Leffe. The unique recipe is the fruit of centuries of experience in the art of brewing, which brings a broad palette of aromas into balance. It is elegant, smooth and fruity, and it has a spicy aftertaste with a hint of bitter orange. It’s light, sunny colour is due to the use of pale malt. Leffe Blond contains 6.6% alcohol and fits excellently with a wide variety of dishes. It is best at a temperature of 5° to 6°. A thirst-quenching aperitif, for those relaxing moments with friends and family.

Well, now I’m sick of this music, I can’t believe I had to retype the entire description, and do you have any idea where to find the degree symbol? Well, now I do. In all seriousness, this is a pretty solid blond, I also had one of these last night, and I enjoyed it. But now that I know the website is so annoying, I think I enjoyed it a little less then I actually remember it.

This website sucks too. It’s making me dizzy. Let me copy this description over for you word for word…

This highly hopped California style Pale Ale showcases the brewer’s art of balancing malt and hop characteristics. A generous addition of Munich malts balances the bittering from Chinook hops, and Cascade hops round out the flavor profile.

This is another one that I cannot remember having. Lost Coast does make some very good beers. I’m a fan of their Downtown Brown and Great White. I don’t see how this one can be bad. It has all of the words that you like to see when someone describes an IPA… “Highly Hopped,” “Generous Additions,” “California style,” “bittering,” etc.

Dead serious. This is what it says on the website…

A medium-bodied and well hopped India pale ale with a dry, fruity finish.

Woah, Great Lakes marketing department, easy with all the words. I’m pretty sure this Google Blogger Thingy has a max amount of characters I’m allowed to use. They also have this though, and they have it for all of their beers, which I think is pretty damn cool… http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/uploads/Beer/WEB%20Profile%20Comm%20Perry%202012.pdf It pretty much has all of the information you could ever need on this beer, so I’ll just let Great Lakes be the wordsmith for this one. This is also the last beer for #CBE6 and I have to get over to King of Prussia because I haven’t gotten a present for my wife yet. All suggestions can be sent to @SKeithJ on “The Twitter.”

The Back Pages:

Just a quick note, because I’m sure your going to analyze every single bit of the newsletter. Beer Advocate has decided in all their infinite wisdom to change their rating system. They’ve abandoned the letter rating system, and have gone to a 100 point numbered system similar to Rate Beer. So now all of the beers that the members of Ba have rated will show up in their usually deflated form in numbers instead of letters.

One holdout... Are you legally not allowed to go on Twitter? Seriously?

CBE5point1 Selection Sheet:

Brewery	Beer	CBE Member	ABV	Ba	RB
Dogfish Head	Midas Touch	@gang_greeny	9%	84	93
Lagunitas	Pilsner	@pppantalones	6.2%	82	75
21^st Amendment	Back In Black	@G_o_o_d_y	6.8%	83	94
Left Hand	400 lb Monkey	@stavypapa	6.8%	81	75
Leffe	Blond	RA	6.6%	82	87
Weyerbacher	Old Heathen	@SKJ131W8th	8%	88	98
Lost Coast	Indica IPA	@Mitch295_	5.9%	86	98
Great Lakes	Commodore Perry	@Grifo79	7.5%	88	94

Thursday, December 8, 2011

'Tis the Season

Happy Holidays. The CBEOfficial is hoping that you are enjoying the CBE5.1, some colder weather (finally,) and with it some Winter Seasonals. Figured it was time to drop a few updates, as well as a great idea by one of our members.

First and foremost, in the "what have you done for me lately category," great job by @pppantalones on Twitter last night. He crushed the Boulder Brewing Co event at Misconduct, met a kind of real life munchkin, and also bumped into a founding father. Going through a flight must have been pretty fantastic with a Cantaloupe Wheat, a Grapefruit IPA (which went well with fries and ketchup,) and a personal favorite of mine the Hazed and Infused. More of us should be following your example of general Twitter ridiculousness. By the way, sorry about that whole Pujols to the Angels thingy. We were all really pulling for you.

Secondly, a great idea was dropped on the editor's desk this morning from @G_o_o_d_y. In a stroke of pure genius, he came up with the idea for a CBE Secret Santa. The recommended value of the present would be about 20 dollars. Items could range from six-packs, large format bottles, gift packs with glasses, pretty much anything to do with beer. Please contact @TheCBEOfficial if you want in, and once we have the total number of participants, we will pick names out of a hat.

Finally, with the Holidays coming up pretty quickly, I wanted to drum up interest in a CBE6 over the next two weeks. It's pretty important to have good beer around the house over the Holidays, because there's nothing better to ~~drown out the noise of bothersome friends and family...~~ share with loved ones. Please let me know if you are interested, and let's throw out some dates for our big return to Brewers Outlet.

Again, if you have interest in authoring some posts, just send me your gmail address, and I will send the invite out.

@TheCBEOfficial.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

It was bound to happen eventually... We got a blog; sorry Mom.

The Craft Beer Exchange

Volume 2 Issue 1 November 22, 2011

“Literal rain can’t even rain on my parade. #CBE5point1” This was one of many tweets sent on a dreary Tuesday evening from a tiny boutique restaurant on North Wayne Avenue, in Wayne Pennsylvania. The location was Teresa’s Next Door (TND,) a Gastropub on the Main Line, serving delicious hearty fare alongside meticulously chosen taps and bottles. On the evening in question (A “Tasty Tuesday” event,) the bar featured a large amount of beer from Victory Brewing out of Downingtown. On the taps were a few of Victory’s draft only selections. Their coffee brown ale; Victory Village, and two harvest brews; a Harvest Ale and Harvest Pils. But most importantly, in bottles, TND was serving last year’s release of Dark Intrigue; their Storm King Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels. To say that Dark Intrigue is rare, or difficult to find, doesn’t really do the beer justice. In actuality, the morning after our little dinner congregation, 300ish people would wait in line outside of Victory’s Brewpub in the pouring rain to purchase cases of this year’s release for $120. I for one felt pretty lucky to be able to order a glass at TND. Jeez, I haven’t even gotten to the Racer 5 they had on cask that night. Well anyway, the crowd was large, the dining room raucous, but our abridged CBE group was able to snag a table near the back, and sit down and enjoy a pre-Thanksgiving celebration. For the CBE had been taken on the road, to the Beer Yard in Wayne, and we had many spoils to discuss. If you are familiar with previous Newsletters, you already know that this is the story of the beers that were chosen during that drenching Tuesday evening, but more importantly how even horrid weather, cramped spaces, large crowds, and what one person would consider an early night, equaled a pretty unanimous choir of success from those able to attend. Enjoy… @TheCBEOfficial

Intro:

Before we get into the selections, let me give you a little background on what’s going on. We’ve moved to a blog, yes a blog. First, I’m going to come up with a cooler name for a blog, and we’re going to call it that. The name thing I’m still working on though, so for right now blog is ok. I’m going to extend the invitation to any member of the CBE who wants to contribute, the only rule is that it has to be CBE related, so pretty much beer must be included. Want to tell us about a restaurant in the city you just visited? Include the tap list and that’s acceptable. Want to wow us with a Thanksgiving leftover recipe? If you used or paired the recipe with beer, I’ll allow it. Want to tell us about that new album you just bought? Well if it goes well with a beer, you’re in luck, you can write about it here. You probably get the picture at this point, but just in case… If you want to make a statement about #OccupyWallStreet, or your fantasy football team, then GFY and start your own damn blog. These pages will be a safe haven for those of us that want to relax a little bit, not worry about the tile falling off your recently installed backsplash, or what caused half of the electrical sockets in the kitchen to no longer work, or the three trips to Home Depot or Lowes it takes to get anything f’n accomplished… I’m losing track, I apologize. So… just about beer, or including beer, nothing else. Bonus points for reviews of beers, especially CBE selections. Please at least give me this, and don’t ruin it by turning it into your journal. The format is going to stay pretty much the same, and I’m going to see if there’s a way I can upload the spreadsheet of all the beers we’ve tried so you can review whenever the mood strikes. I’m not sure if I’m going to be uploading pictures, I’m not even sure if I’m legally allowed. I wish we new a lawyer or something that had any background in copyright infringement. I might go back and just instagram the shit out of some of our selections and just use those pictures. I guess what I’m saying is as I become a little more savvy with the blog format, you can expect some more bells and whistles (or in this case pictures and sarcasm.)

This is officially the first exchange after the CBE’s one year anniversary. Thus the Volume 2, Issue 1. We’re going with 5.1 in the official books, because as you know it wasn’t a fully participated event. Lots of great ideas came up for future CBE’s as well as field trips, and I’m starting to think this little CBE thing is definitely a bit bigger than all of us. I hope you guys have enjoyed it so far, and are looking forward the CBE6, which will obviously have to be done prior to Christmas.

I think I can speak for everyone that was there, when I say even though the weather and parking were super shitty, we all had a really good time with our first Mainline CBE. A big thank you to @G_o_o_d_y, who should get total credit for the idea. I don’t think the Beer Yard did anything to wow any of us into thinking that we have to go back there immediately, but I appreciated the selection and the different breweries that we haven’t seen at Brewers Outlet. I also didn’t find an inordinate amount of dust on any of the beers I brought home; and that was nice. It is not easy selecting a case in there though. Several times I was having visions of a bull in a china shop and was worried I was going to domino several hundred cases into the dirt floor. Tangent again, sorry. The selections, although two short, were pretty phenomenal. TND was also a great time. The tap list, bottle list, and the food were pretty out of this world. Safe to say it was a good experience and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves.

And with that, let’s get into this bad boy with some witty banter and website linking…

Selections:

We got our third selection from Terrapin in CBE5.1; The Big Hoppy Monster. @gang_greeny had a few other brews that were in consideration, but went with a brewery that the CBE has been pretty happy with. The website is solid (http://terrapinbeer.com/,) has made me want to visit Athens, GA the two other times I’ve been on it, and offers this on the beer…

This mammoth imperial red ale leads with a tantalizing hop aroma that is quickly complemented by an enormous malt backbone & finished with a multitude of hoppy goodness.

Annual Release: August

The high content alcohol of these beers make them perfect for cellaring…hide them away and pull one out for a special event 2-3 years later.

WATCH OUT! THIS MONSTER BITES!

If you want to skip to the bottom to check out the Ba and RB reviews, go right ahead. I can just save you the trouble and tell you all of the beers selected in 5.1 were extremely outstanding according to those two sites. I can also tell you that because we’re such a mess of hopheads, this one was easily going to be a crowd favorite. One day, when the enamel on all of our teeth is gone, we’re going to wish we had more stouts in the selections, but until then I say we just continue to ride this wave of tongue biting bitter beers. Another big win from Terrapin. I just made myself thirsty and am going to grab one of these out of the fridge or there’s no way this newsletter is going to continue to even be slightly enjoyable… for both of us…*returns to computer* *smacks lips* *smiles*

And I’m back for selection two. Twitter should start comping me. Fact. As I slowly grow my social media empire, the electronic release of the Newsletter has brought another of our legion to twitting relevancy. That man, @pppantalones took the longest to soak in every inch of space the Beer Yard had to offer. Going back and forth many times, it didn’t help that so many hoppy beers had already been chosen at that point. Not wanting to make our only six selection case anymore hop forward than it already was, he finally settled on a world renown Doppelbock, from Schneider Weisse. The only problem, the gigantic bottles (to which glassware being a problem has already been of discussion on twitter,) only come in cases of twenty (FU metric system; I really didn’t know what else to blame it on.) There were a few very antsy, and pretty hungry and thirsty members of our group at that point, so we went with the Eisbock, Doppelbock, whatever bock, and some of us sucked it up with only three bottles. At over 8%, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for anyone. It is important to point out that I lost the last bottle playing Rock Paper Scissors. The person I was playing against thought we were playing odds and evens. And I still lost. The website is definitely cool, has lots of fun commercials and videos. http://www.schneider-weisse.de/index.php Most of it is in German, so I couldn’t understand any of them, but they still looked pretty fun and interesting. The German also caused some confusion with what kind of beer this is, because it looks like the label for their Wheat Doppelbock and Eisbock are the same. Assholes. I’ll go with this from Wikipedia…

G. Schneider & Sohn is a Bavarian brewery company founded in 1872 by Georg Schneider I and his son of the same name, after they acquired the Weisses Brauhaus in Munich, the oldest wheat beer brewery in the city. In 1927 the owners, who to this day are descendants of Georg Schneider I, expanded their brewing operations into Kelheim and Straubing. After the breweries in Munich were destroyed in 1944 by bombing, the entire production was relocated to Kelheim.

Apparently, they are very good at brewing wheat beers. I would agree. Be careful with these, nasty headaches are right around the corner. It must be some combination of the 8.2%, GIGANTIC bottles, or the fact that it’s namesake is a hermit and friend of St Thomas Becket. Did I just make that up? Does it mean anything? I really don’t know. The internet is awesome.

Wow, when I don’t have pictures to fill in some of the space on this Newsletter, I end up writing a lot more.

Well, well, well. @G_o_o_d_y picked a beer from a brewery in… you guessed it, The Centennial State. Yep, I didn’t know CO was nicknamed that either. Seems pretty lame, especially because of all the good beer they have there, but oh well. There are more important things to discuss, and as I have mentioned, this is a blog about beer and the CBE. Not Colorado’s stupid nickname or how bad the Eagles are. Hibernation Ale… Hey Great Divide website, tell me a little bit about it…

Hibernation Ale

Great Divide’s award-winning Hibernation Ale is Colorado’s original strong ale – it has been our winter seasonal each year since 1995. Since that time, Hibernation has become the most sought-after winter beer in Colorado. Hibernation’s massive flavors are so intense that it requires over three months of aging each year. Each summer, while our brewers are still spending their weekends in flip-flops and shorts, they prepare for July’s Hibernation brewing schedule.

We cellar Hibernation until late October, when it reaches the peak of perfection. This lengthy aging process gives Hibernation its revered malty richness, complex hop profile and hearty warming character, which is perfect right out of the bottle or cellared for longer periods of time. Hibernation is a lively treat that really beats the winter chill. This scrumptious, collectible, and imminently cellarable ale is only available for six weeks each year, from November 1 to December 15. Hibernation Ale is the perfect gift or accompaniment to your winter festivities.

*SHOUTS* I said a little bit you jerk website. You’re hogging all my joke making room. In slightly more seriousness news, Great Divide’s Brewery slash tasting room (http://www.greatdivide.com/theskinny/findus.htm,) is easily one of the top five beer places that I’ve ever been. And I made Amy take a vacation to Portland, OR (Which on a side note, is nicknamed the Beaver State, and more informally known as Beervana, so suck it Colorado.) They give you some free samples, then you can buy pints, then guys from the food trucks outside come in so you can order tacos and pizza. It pretty much has everything that I’ve ever wanted in a brewery, and also Yeti Imperial Stout in several different varieties. I liked the Hibernation, but should have saved more them for December when it won’t be 65 degrees outside. Stupid global warming.

I once went to Phillies Spring Training in Clearwater. By the way, this isn’t a baseball story, it’s a bachelor party story. We went to a place called Mons Venus. It’s the type of place that lets you be a DJ if you have enough quarters, and other gentlemanly things happen there. They also have this ugly electronic scroll that every once in a while invites you to go to a place called Cigar City to pick up a growler of beer to bring into the establishment you’re currently sitting in. Alas, Cigar City was well closed by the time I saw the scroll. But it is where our next beer is from…

Jai Alai, a game native to the Basque region of Spain, is played on a court called a fronton. Jai Alai players attempt to catch a ball using a curved mitt whilst the ball travels at speeds up to 188mph! Proving they have a sense of humor the Spanish dubbed this game, with its ball traveling at racecar speeds, “the merry game.” Tampa was once home to a bustling Jai Alai fronton but sadly all that remains of Jai Alai in the Tampa Bay area is this India Pale Ale that we brew in tribute to the merry game. The India Pale Ale style of beer has its roots in the ales sent from England to thirsty British troops in India during the 18th century. Pair Jai Alai India Pale Ale with Beef Empanadas, Deviled Crabs and other spicy dishes.

Pours copper in color with notes of citrus and tropical fruit in the aroma. Flavor has upfront citrus bitterness with a hint of caramel and citrus and tropical fruit hop notes in the finish.

We get it, Tampa’s famous for Cigars, some weird Spanish game, and now awesome IPA’s, For those of you who watch Drinking Made Easy on HD Net, it also made the Pleepleus Plantain Wheat Beer. And I’ve never had that, but it looks awesome. Thanks to @stavypapa for pretty much slam dunking his selection. http://www.cigarcitybrewing.com/

Someone couldn’t make it, but still wanted in on the exchange. Can you blame him? Firestone Walker Union Jack, a new classic among CBEers…

An instant classic, Union Jack is the recipient of numerous awards including back to back wins at the Great American Beer Festival. Union Jack is abound with hop aroma and character. In fact this well balanced, west coast IPA is dry hopped 3 separate times, each lot giving it more and more of the grapefruit citrus hop aroma and flavor it is known for. Overall it utilizes over 4 pounds of pacific northwest hops per barrel.

REMEMBER: Watch for bottled on dates located on the necks of our beers. Our beer is not pasteurized, so it is best when stored at 44F or below, out of light and within 110 days of the bottled on date...this ensures freshness and ultimately a great Firestone Walker beer!

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one. The website is pretty cool. http://www.firestonebeer.com/beers/products/union-jack They make a Double Jack that you can get at @WFM_PlymouthMtg. It’s awesome, and dangerous. The guy that was on the Bachelor that one time has something to do with the brewery (maybe,) and I think their also somehow related to the tire fortune (again maybe, you can’t expect me to check all these facts, especially if they don’t have anything to do with beer.)

Finally, a beer that someone has already likened to “soy sauce,” but the rest of the beer drinking world thinks is a A-/98, the Duck-Rabbit Dopplebock. This company is a self proclaimed “dark beer specialist,” out of North Carolina. Apparently, they have dark beer in NC, but not the internet, because this website sucks. It looks like it was made on Geocities in the 90’s, and doesn’t even contain their seasonal brews. (Great Geocities reference, I continue to amaze myself, and am rewarding myself with another beer.) *opens Aventinus* *finds most GIGANTIC glass in house* So I thought this beer was pretty awesome, and definitely didn’t think it tasted like soy sauce. But maybe if you’re really into hops, everything else just tastes like crap. At least it’s not Dogtoberfest, I lost sleep over that one.

And that Gentlemen, brings us to the epic conclusion of Newsletter Volume 2, issue 1, or CBE5.1. I hope you all had a chance to enjoy some of these with friends and family over the Thanksgiving Holiday, according to Twitter, it looks like most everyone did. CBE6 is right around the corner, so if you missed out on this awesome one, don’t worry, there’s plenty of beer we haven’t tried yet.

The Back Pages

Future potential events

· Surprise, Surprise. Amy thinks I have too much beer hidden all over the house. Want to come over and drink some?

· Philly Bar Crawl – still awaiting sponsorship. Lots of great places to go check out. Anyone been to Yards or Philly Brewing Co?

· Bus trip to Troegs in Hershey. Invite your significant other, in my dreams, this is a very large bus.

· CBE6 – this one’s right around the corner. I think for 100% involvement, we stick to what works best, or I’m open for ideas. Also, we need to come up with the breakdown for the styles. Anyone want to chime in?

Some extras – check out the http://phillytapfinder.com/ website. They also have a twitter account; @PhillyTapFinder If you’re interested, download the app for Untappd, or check out the website http://untappd.com/. It’s a pretty easy way to remember beers your checking out, whether or not you liked them, and they got me into a sweet Sam Adams tasting while I was at GABF (if you see Griffins Bow on a bottle list somewhere, GET IT!) I would also check out the http://www.beermenus.com/ website. That’s how I stay so in tune with what they have over at @WFM_PlymouthMtg, and they also have a list for the Whole Foods in Devon.

For those of you that haven’t, please stop screwing around and join twitter already. Seriously… (thank you to those who have already taken this advice.)