Okay, it was bound to happen. Life intrudes and suddenly the quest gets shoved into the background. In the last blog I wrote (more than two weeks ago!), I mentioned that my wife and I had bought a house and were moving. Guess what I've been doing the past two weeks?
Which means I haven't had the opportunity to buy new brews or sample new brews, which means I've been drinking brews I have already tried, which means my progress has slowed considerably.
Good thing I had a big lead, huh?
In the two plus weeks since my last blog, I have sampled exactly 12 different beers. I averaged more than that every week before the move! Atrocious progress, to be sure, but I'm back and ready to kick it into high gear.
The only bright spots over the past couple of weeks have been a couple of offerings from Left Hand Brewing. One is Sawtooth Ale (Premium Bitter/ESB) and the other is Black Jack Porter (guess the style). Both highly recommended. The other ten are best soon forgotten.
Our house is very nice and the view is to die for, so I don't regret giving up some of my lead for this. Well worth it, I say. With a several week lead, I haven't really lost that much ground in my quest and I've gained one hell of a location to live. Seems like a fair trade to me.
In a couple of weeks, I'll be heading overseas on a business trip. My first stop is India, not exactly a bastion of beer, but I should be able to sample a selection or two while I'm there. My last stop is the United Kingdom. Yeah, I know. I am going to kick some beer butt there! Hell, seven days of going to pubs? I just hope I can record every beer I try over there.
So, while I have been a bit absent lately, I am far from out of the game. I'm back and more determined than ever to hit my goal.
Life is good and so is beer!
In honor of my trip to India, " A la sature." I have no idea what it means, but hopefully it doesn't mean "death to beef eaters."
Goal...............524.....365
Progress.........236.....133
Remaining.....288.....232
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Day 117 – Moving on Up
To the northwest side of town, where mountain views reign supreme. My wife and I bought a house there and will be living there by the end of the month. We prefer that side of Tucson. There's more to do there.
But I'm also moving on up the list on Ratebeer.com as far as the number of ratings go. You have to have at least 100 ratings to make the list. So far 3340 people have achieved that lofty goal. I am 2034 on the list and climbing with 224 ratings. Tomorrow I will fall under the 300 mark of beers remaining to be tasted. That puts me at the 43% mark in only 32% of the time.
I feel like a marathoner hitting his stride.
Allow me to begin the recap of the past week with the worst beer ever made. I mean, THE WORST! It is worse than any IPA I have sampled, worse than skunky Heineken in all its derivatives, even worse than Wild Blue, AB's abysmal attempt in fruit beer.
It is called Cave Creek Chili Beer. Instead of a worm you might find in a bottle of tequila, this one has a chili pepper in it. Cute, huh? I knew this was not going to go well when I discovered that this beer was #25 on the list of Ratebeer's worst beers in the world. Among all the beers I have tried, this was given the lowest rating by ratebeerians. My rating of 0.7 was accompanied by the text below:
"Pours golden with no head, no lacing, carbonation evident. Smells like pickle juice...which is okay, if you're drinking pickle juice. But beer? Tastes like pickle juice, too, with bite. No way I'm drinking this stuff. Is one sip enough to earn the rating? Man, I could have had a chili dog for what I paid for this."
That is correct...one sip is all I took. I poured the rest down the drain. I hope the drain forgives me.
I had some other stinkers, too, but this was by far the worst. The other stinkers were fine brews in a comparative sense.
So let's talk about some brews that I found to be exceptional. Curim Golden Celtic Wheat Beer was a very good imported ale. So was Eye of the Hawk Select Ale from Mendocino Brewing Co. Another great ale was called Sweaty Betty Blonde from Boulder Beer Company (gotta love the name, don't you?). A local amber ale from Prescott (AZ) Brewing Co. called Liquid Amber Ale was excellent. The name wasn't very imaginative, but the ale was fantastic.
Some darker, stronger beers also made the list this past week. Wasatch Polygamy Porter, 8 Ball Stout (Lost Coast Brewery), and Steelhead Extra Stout (Mad River Brewing Co.) were all excellent brews that I highly recommend. Finally, from Mexico, believe it or not, a great brown ale called Cucapa Obscura. Excellente.
Life is good and so is beer!
In honor of Spain winning their first World Cup, "Arriba, abajo, al centro, para adentro." It means "Up, down, center, inside." Supposedly it is a vulgar term, but I guess you have to be Spanish to know why.
Goal...............524.....365
Progress.........224......117
Remaining.....300.....248
But I'm also moving on up the list on Ratebeer.com as far as the number of ratings go. You have to have at least 100 ratings to make the list. So far 3340 people have achieved that lofty goal. I am 2034 on the list and climbing with 224 ratings. Tomorrow I will fall under the 300 mark of beers remaining to be tasted. That puts me at the 43% mark in only 32% of the time.
I feel like a marathoner hitting his stride.
Allow me to begin the recap of the past week with the worst beer ever made. I mean, THE WORST! It is worse than any IPA I have sampled, worse than skunky Heineken in all its derivatives, even worse than Wild Blue, AB's abysmal attempt in fruit beer.
It is called Cave Creek Chili Beer. Instead of a worm you might find in a bottle of tequila, this one has a chili pepper in it. Cute, huh? I knew this was not going to go well when I discovered that this beer was #25 on the list of Ratebeer's worst beers in the world. Among all the beers I have tried, this was given the lowest rating by ratebeerians. My rating of 0.7 was accompanied by the text below:
"Pours golden with no head, no lacing, carbonation evident. Smells like pickle juice...which is okay, if you're drinking pickle juice. But beer? Tastes like pickle juice, too, with bite. No way I'm drinking this stuff. Is one sip enough to earn the rating? Man, I could have had a chili dog for what I paid for this."
That is correct...one sip is all I took. I poured the rest down the drain. I hope the drain forgives me.
I had some other stinkers, too, but this was by far the worst. The other stinkers were fine brews in a comparative sense.
So let's talk about some brews that I found to be exceptional. Curim Golden Celtic Wheat Beer was a very good imported ale. So was Eye of the Hawk Select Ale from Mendocino Brewing Co. Another great ale was called Sweaty Betty Blonde from Boulder Beer Company (gotta love the name, don't you?). A local amber ale from Prescott (AZ) Brewing Co. called Liquid Amber Ale was excellent. The name wasn't very imaginative, but the ale was fantastic.
Some darker, stronger beers also made the list this past week. Wasatch Polygamy Porter, 8 Ball Stout (Lost Coast Brewery), and Steelhead Extra Stout (Mad River Brewing Co.) were all excellent brews that I highly recommend. Finally, from Mexico, believe it or not, a great brown ale called Cucapa Obscura. Excellente.
Life is good and so is beer!
In honor of Spain winning their first World Cup, "Arriba, abajo, al centro, para adentro." It means "Up, down, center, inside." Supposedly it is a vulgar term, but I guess you have to be Spanish to know why.
Goal...............524.....365
Progress.........224......117
Remaining.....300.....248
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Day 109 – Long Time, No Blog
I can't believe more than two weeks have passed since I last wrote here! My social calendar has been more than a bit full, but still, I should have carved out some time to write. My bad.
I would tell you that not much has happened during this time as an excuse, but that isn't true at all. My wife and I have bought a house in the Catalina foothills outside Tucson with great mountain views and a shorter drive to the beer store, which is important. I'm also more encouraged than ever about achieving my goal of tasting 524 different beers in a year's time.
Why is that?
Oh, well, thanks for asking, I'll be happy to tell you.
A couple of reasons actually. First, I stopped by a Total Wine store in Phoenix last weekend and discovered they had a better selection than my local store. This means I have another option besides all the other options when the choices begin running low.
Second, I'm going to be traveling to Asia and Europe on business next month for two weeks. Imagine the number of different beers I can sample over that time period that I can't get here!
It's still too early to celebrate, but I'm feeling better about my chances now than I was when I first started. Beer-wise, I'm about forty percent of the way through the quest in thirty percent of the time. I love having that cushion so that I won't be scrambling near the end. If I can cross the finish line early, that would be ideal.
Some really good beers I've sampled over the past couple of weeks include Taddy Porter from Samuel Smith, Raspberry Brown from Lost Coast, Orchard White from The Bruery, Somer Orange Honey Ale from Rogue Ales, and Santa Fe Pale Ale from Santa Fe Brewing Co. All scored very high and are definite recommendations.
The stinkers include Coney Island Albino Python from Schmaltz Brewing (style was listed as Vegetable and had a sour lemon and pepper taste) and Heineken and Beck's regular and light versions. It is a tribute to advertising that skunky, nasty beer is thought of so highly by the masses.
For my 200th rating, RateBeer presented me with a short video of Kermit the Frog singing and receiving grand applause at the finale. I'm beginning to look forward to hitting milestones just to see what surprise they have in store for me.
As an added incentive, I find that I am climbing up the ladder of raters. The number of people in the 100 Beer Club (100 ratings or more) is 3325. I am listed at 2169, a couple hundred spots higher than two weeks ago. How cool is that?
Life is good and so is beer!
Here's mud in your eye! That is courtesy of our friends across the big pond in the UK. Supposedly it's considered vulgar, but I couldn't tell you why. Maybe it has to do with what type of mud is in your eye?
Goal...............524.....365
Progress.........201.....109
Remaining.....323.....256
I would tell you that not much has happened during this time as an excuse, but that isn't true at all. My wife and I have bought a house in the Catalina foothills outside Tucson with great mountain views and a shorter drive to the beer store, which is important. I'm also more encouraged than ever about achieving my goal of tasting 524 different beers in a year's time.
Why is that?
Oh, well, thanks for asking, I'll be happy to tell you.
A couple of reasons actually. First, I stopped by a Total Wine store in Phoenix last weekend and discovered they had a better selection than my local store. This means I have another option besides all the other options when the choices begin running low.
Second, I'm going to be traveling to Asia and Europe on business next month for two weeks. Imagine the number of different beers I can sample over that time period that I can't get here!
It's still too early to celebrate, but I'm feeling better about my chances now than I was when I first started. Beer-wise, I'm about forty percent of the way through the quest in thirty percent of the time. I love having that cushion so that I won't be scrambling near the end. If I can cross the finish line early, that would be ideal.
Some really good beers I've sampled over the past couple of weeks include Taddy Porter from Samuel Smith, Raspberry Brown from Lost Coast, Orchard White from The Bruery, Somer Orange Honey Ale from Rogue Ales, and Santa Fe Pale Ale from Santa Fe Brewing Co. All scored very high and are definite recommendations.
The stinkers include Coney Island Albino Python from Schmaltz Brewing (style was listed as Vegetable and had a sour lemon and pepper taste) and Heineken and Beck's regular and light versions. It is a tribute to advertising that skunky, nasty beer is thought of so highly by the masses.
For my 200th rating, RateBeer presented me with a short video of Kermit the Frog singing and receiving grand applause at the finale. I'm beginning to look forward to hitting milestones just to see what surprise they have in store for me.
As an added incentive, I find that I am climbing up the ladder of raters. The number of people in the 100 Beer Club (100 ratings or more) is 3325. I am listed at 2169, a couple hundred spots higher than two weeks ago. How cool is that?
Life is good and so is beer!
Here's mud in your eye! That is courtesy of our friends across the big pond in the UK. Supposedly it's considered vulgar, but I couldn't tell you why. Maybe it has to do with what type of mud is in your eye?
Goal...............524.....365
Progress.........201.....109
Remaining.....323.....256
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