Dearest Readers,

I'm deciding to wield my powers for the power of good. So I want to share something important that is happening in my home state of Connecticut..

The group of beer friends I have made in Connecticut, have formed a team for the Make-A-Wish Connecticut wing eating contest at J Timothy's Taverne. It's a contest affectionately named "Wings for Wishes."

The team is ‪#‎CTBrewCrew‬, and this is a fantastic group of people, doing something incredibly awesome. I wish I could be a part of it, but I will have to be there in spirit.

I'm asking that you visit the link below and donate anything you can. $1, $5, $20- anything you can afford to part with. Every dollar counts.

Love, 
Hipster Brewfus

Link to Donate: http://CTBrewCrew.com/
Link for more information on the event: http://jtwingsforwishes.com/about/

Don't even get me started!

I suppose I'll preface this with telling you I'm in Kentucky. You see, I'm a structural engineer. And my company is a power group. We design, engineer, and fabricate things that clean the air. Think of me as a modern day Captain Planet- Except I work at a desk, I don't have a team of multicultural teenagers getting into trouble, and I'm way more monochrome.

I'm going to break this post into two separate posts, because I was damned surprised at everything I was able to turn up while I spent the first half of my trip here. Week one and week two. Welcome to week one.

As you can imagine, the first thing I did when I found out I was going to Kentucky was hit the interwebs to find out what the hell is near me. A few breweries (Score!) and...no goddamned decent beer stores. Such is life. When I arrived at my hotel, there was a beacon of hope though, as there was a monstrous building next to me called "Beverage World." Surely, I MUST be able to find something there to satiate my cravings. And I did, kind of. Picture, if you will, a large warehouse style building. Open corrugated steel ceiling, exposed structural steel beams and bracing and 10' high steel shelves, packed full of all the liquor you could ever want. While you're imagining all of that, imagine one side of an aisle, with about...40' of space dedicated to things that aren't macro. Sounds pretty decent, right? Take a fucking gander at this:

This was bottled in two thousand goddamn eleven!

That's right. This place was home to a lot of good beer, which was ancient as shit. Aside from that though, there was Bells (Fuck yeah!), Schalfly, and lots of local Kentucky beer. It was already late when I got in, and at the height of the West Sixth vs Magic Hat controversy, that I had my choices. I got me some West Sixth IPA, Bluegrass Brewing Company Horse Piss Lager, and Bells motherfucking Two Hearted. Do you have any idea how happy I was?

Hint: I was very happy.

 I accounted for a LOT of dusty, dirty bottles. Many IPAs well past the date of enjoyment. But also things like Brooklyn  Black Chocolate Stout and Monster Ale, which benefit heavily from some age. I thought the best thing to do though, would be sticking to as local as possible. Just seems like the freshest idea.

So lets get down to it. I'm going to review some Kentucky beer, en masse.

First up, Horse Piss Beer. Sounds terrible right? It almost is. It's an unassuming lager. It was sweet,smooth, and malty, and I liked it. It's a lager, and very easy to put down. But to be honest, I only bought it for the name. Horse Piss Beer? That's funny, I don't care who you are. It was easily forgettable, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't enjoyable. The other couple times I've been back in the store, I was able to skip over it without a second thought. Horse Piss is brewed by Bluegrass Brewing Company, and most likely a tie in with the Kentucky Derby.

This better NOT be Kentucky's finest...

Speaking of Bluegrass Brewing Company...

I was able to take a trip to one of their many locations. I was excited, it only took me about 10 minutes to get to, located in downtown Louisville. I went in having zero preconceived notions, thank God.

Want to know what I thought? YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWN

The food was pretty good, I can not tell a lie. The service? Eh. I've had way better. The beer? Boring. I ordered the Summer Wheat, and was given a thin, watery beer, without much flavor. I was going to order a flight, but between this beer, and the HPB, I came to my own conclusion that Bluegrass can be written off without a moments hesitation. I could totally be wrong, though. I paid my tab and left, with zero guilt.

Lastly, my faithful readers. West Sixth. Now I remind you, this was during all the copyright bullshit that was going on between them and Magic Hat. So when I saw the cans on the shelf (and was not confused at all) I just HAD to get them. Their IPA was malty and hoppy. It was extremely well balanced, and just delicious. Probably the best IPA I had that day. I wish more people could have tried this beer, and then the whole stupid copyright issue could have been settled by "who has the best beer?" Because they would have won in in a second. Later, on a second trip back, I picked up their Amber Ale, and it was also a tasty beer! These guys really know what they are doing. In my travels, I have really only seen those two beers though. Id like to get down to Lexington one of these days and check them out. If history proves true, I imagine I'm going to be in Kentucky quite a bit in the future.

(Check out Part Two)

Bluegrass Brewing Company

Website: http://www.bbcbrew.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/BBCBrew

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BBCBEERPIMP

View Larger Map

West Sixth Brewing

Website: http://www.westsixth.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westsixthbrewing

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WestSixth

View Larger Map

Steppin' up my picture game.

Wine and beer, together. I mean when I first heard about it, I was actually kind of excited. But my first sip of one back in April left me...really goddamned confused. It wasn't my beer, so I didn't get the chance to drink more of it and dissect it. So when I saw the 4 packs beginning to pop up, I was quick to scoop one up, determined to write my first Dogfish Head review about this damn confounding beer.

That kind of "hit & miss" quality is something I've been struggling with a lot lately when it comes to DFH. Theobroma? First bottle I drank, I ended up throwing right back up. Sure, sure, it was probably caused by something else...But still, let me have my moment. Second bottle took me another month or so to drink, and even then it was with extreme caution. And you know what happened? I fucking loved it. It was complicated and complex and everything that frustrates me about DFH, but in the best way possible.

...But I digress.

Sixty-One. Wine and beer. Hops and grapes. Delicious and I want more. To explain a bit more of the beer, before I tell you what I thought of it, I'll let the brewery explain more:

"The name Sixty-One is a reminder that this beer is Dogfish Head’s best-selling 60 Minute IPA plus one new ingredient: syrah grape must from California. The label, painted by Sam, is a twist on a typical watercolor. Rather than using water, Sam mixed the green pigment with beer and the red pigment with wine. And because Sixty-One pairs so well with chocolate, he painted the browns on the label with melted chocolate."                

-Dogfish.com/sixty-one

All well and  nice, right? Let's get down to bidness, and pour this bitch out.

Sixty-One definitely does not look like beer. Save for the carbonation, and the fluffy, pink head, this is all wine. It's a very translucent, dark blush color. Cranberry juice. Wine. Honestly, I would be less worried if I spilled this on my couch, than had it been a glass of Pinot Noir.

My favorite part is how this beer (Weer? Bine? You see what I did there?) smells. Seriously. The nose is all juicy grape and wine. It's an IPA, or so they tell us, but I'm not getting any hops, malt or anything. The grape funk and bite all day, but you can't say it smells like a beer. And if you do, you're a liar.

The taste a whirlwind of grape and malt. Everything wonderful that's happening seems to really hide any hops that might be there. While some might think its a shame, seeing as 60 minute is a really popular IPA, I'd say this beer exceeds because of it. Slightly tart, and very light. The malt comes through just enough, and it just balances so well with the syrah grapes. I love everything about this beer so far. It's certainly thin, but it doesn't sacrifice anything because of it. In my humble opinion, the body is perfect for what it is.

This beer is so good, so different, and so refreshing. I want to drink it outside, until I pass out, and then wake up just to drink more of them. While I'm still leery of DFH, this is one beer that I will never hesitate to pick up.

Oh yeah, and I totally drank it out of my new DFH/Sierra Nevada Spiegelau glass! Which as I write, I think "No shit, they can see in the pictures!"

Website: http://www.dogfish.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dogfishheadbeer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dogfishbeer
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/dogfishheadbeer
G+: https://plus.google.com/+dogfishhead/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/dogfishbeer

Dogfish Head Sixty-One

Smell: 4.5/5
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 4.5/5
Feel: 3.5/5

Overall: 4.125

This beer pairs well with: Del tha Funkee Homosapien - Jaw Gymnastics

Image courtesy of Drink Baltimore

You know, in the one year since I've started, there have been times when I wouldn't shut the hell up about DuClaw on Facebook and Twitter, but I have NEVER reviewed a beer of theirs. That is stupid of me. I'm going to be changing that very soon. I already know the beer.

But this post isn't about that. This post is about the VIP tour of sorts me and about a dozen others were lucky enough to be a part of. We were able to be a part of this tour as ticket buyers to the DuClaw #BAMbus on the way to the Maryland Craft Beer Festival last month. There isn't going to be a post about that (because I took a "vacation day"), and even today's post isn't a real IN DEPTH view, but I just wanted to share my excitement, and some pictures.

It's no joke when I tell you their new facility is on Yellow Brick Road. take a look for yourself:

View Larger Map

It's funny because around the same time as their announcement of moving, and the release of their Oz IPA, it was about the same time as that new Oz movie came out. I asked my buddy Brad from DuClaw about it, and we had a good laugh. The following are some shots I was able to take while on my tour. And it was a great tour, even though they kept apologizing. The facility is brand new, the offices not even formed yet. You'd never even know you had reached the place, unless you were looking for the trademark "D" on the door handle.

I was allowed a couple of few secrets. The biggest one being what's going to be Divine Retribution #3. Ask all you want, but I ain't saying shit! Seriously though, I had the greatest time. It was a great tour,with great people, and a great way to kick off a GREAT weekend.

greatgreatgreat

I can definitely see this being my bar when it's all said and done. I'll keep everyone posted on updates when I get more news!

You can also keep in touch with DuClaw on the internets:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DuClaw-Brewing-Co
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DuClawBrewing
Website: https://twitter.com/DuClawBrewing