We have added a new blog category, because Karen is pregnant with our baby girl. She is due around June 22nd.
You can checkout the progress here: www.katiebeth.info.
Returning Home
I am heading back to Huntsville, Alabama. Hopefully, I have completed my work in Colorado Springs, but I already have travel setup for Wednesday so that I can return.
I am bringing home some beer for my dad, which I hope he will enjoy. I sure enjoyed it.
Beer and Football
Well, I am heading over to Bristol Brewing Company to watch the Super Bowl and enjoy a pork platter along with cold microbrew.
You just can't beat a good time like that can you?
Snowing in Colorado Springs
Well, I am still in Colorado Springs. The weather is very wintery and it looks like I am not going home anytime soon.
Bummer!
It is nice to have the snow, but I wish I had more clothes for the 9° F that it is outside right now.
Travel Coming to a End (Maybe)
I am here. I hope to be here soon. I have been working too much on this trip. I hope that I have completed the task that I came here to do, soon.
I am ready get home to see the SuperBowl commercials.
The weather went cold and snowy today. The low is going to be 5°, which is way to cold for me. By Friday, the high temperature will only be 15°. Aagh!
XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout
Well, I made to the release of XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout at Bristol Brewery. I arrived at Bristol at 9 PM, which is closing time, but Russell Noel indicated they were still pouring.
I had Russell poured me up one of the XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout. They pour you 4 oz glass, which is good given it is 18.4 ABV. Wow! It tastes great. The flavors remind me of port wine or brady.
I decided to purchase a six pack to take back to my dad's house so that he could try, too.
They only made about 40 case according to what I believe I was told.
Jumping on a Plane to Colorado Springs
I am writing this while flying to Colorado Spring. I was planning a nice weekend away from work, but here I am flying to Colorado Springs to see about fixing our system. Hopefully, I will be able to resolve the failure at work and get back home quickly. The requirement for this trip came up during lunch, but I knew that it could happen at any minute. I just didn't expect the need to put me on a trip two hours later.
On the other hand, I get the chance to stop by Bristol Brewing Company and try some of their beers. I know that they are releasing their XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout tonight. My flight doesn't arrive until 8:20PM and Bristol closes at 9:00PM so I won't likely make it before closing. I can hope!
The XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout has a kick you in the pants 18.4 % ABV (alcohol by volume), which took three years to brew. Mike Bristol has calls it “an epic labor of love”.
Free The Hops Raffle Prizes Means Great Beers
You may have read in my previous post about the fundraiser held by Free The Hops at the The Flying Monkey Art Center.
Well, I bought a few raffle tickets at the event and won two of the prizes. Given Free The Hops is an organization formed to change the Alabama laws, you can guess that all the prize where beer in some form.
My father and I decided to have tasting at his house with our friend Bradley Smith. Bradley Smith established Custom Camper Covers in Huntsville, Alabama.
We started with Duvel, which is Belgian Golden Ale. It was an okay start, but it had off flavors for what some of us wanted.
We moved on to tasting Terrapin's 2007 Monster Beer Tour. We started Big Hoppy Monster, which everyone enjoyed to my surprise. I was guessing the beer would be too hopped, but it was enjoyed.
We keep the train moving on our tour of Terrapin beers with our next stop being All-American Imperial Pilsner. This was a good beer to follow the Big Hoppy Monster.
At this point, we decided to shift gear and go aluminum. As in aluminum cans, which brings us to Oskar Blues Brewery's canned ales. We started with Dales Pale Ale, which was good. The flavor caught me off guard from what I expect, but I adapted.
The Old Chub Scottish Style Ale was next and enjoyed by all.
At this point, we switched back to our last Terrapin, which was the “Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Stout“. We knew this beer was off Bradley's scale. And, he agreed saying, “I think I will try another one.” The rich coffee taste drives the flavors in this beer. The body is not that heave, but it is not light either.
We went on, but the write will stop now.
Free The Hops’ Huntsville Fundraiser
Well, I think everyone had a blast. The Huntsville Chapter of Free The Hops put on a great event to support the group's effort to change the Alabama beer laws to allow beers with alcohol above 6% and in containers greater than 16 oz.
We received help from so many people to make this event happen. Olde Towne, Terrapin, Brooklyn Brewing, and Supreme Beverage helped by provide draft beer.
Many of our members brought beer to provide everyone a taste of what you could drink in Alabama if we get the laws changed.
The musical talents of The Sideshow was on hand to provide great music for the event. I think everyone enjoyed them and it has very nice of them to donate their services.
I have heard estimates that around 500 people joined our party/fundraiser.
Free The Hops' Fundraiser on January 20th
I hope that you have cleared your calendar on January 20th so that you can make it to Free The Hops' Fundraiser at the Flying Monkey Art Center here in Huntsville, Alabama. It is great chance to try some great beers and meet other beer lovers.
It will be a great event!
If you don't know about Free The Hops, they are organized to change Alabama beer laws to raise the allowed alcohol percentage and container limit. These change will allow all the speciality beer that have come into the market place to be sold in Alabama.