Der Feuervogel aufersteht.

Yesterday was the 2nd annual NC Cask Beer Fest at the Wooden Nickel. Last year, they had a half dozen casks, and I was interested in maybe one of them, and I didn't like it. This year, they had a dozen, and I tried 5 or 6 of them.

Roth Brewing's cinnamon porter with caramel apple was awesome, though I didn't catch much apple flavor. I love cinnamon, so this was great for me.

Liberty Steakhouse+Brewery made this pepper porter (stout?) that was all HELLO I AM PEPPER.

Foothills had a chocolate mint porter that was herbal mint, not ice cream mint. It was OK.

Lonerider's Weissenbock was brilliant. It was thick and yeasty and had appley notes and tasted like Christmas. But they're not bottling it, I'm sad.

Haw River had a sour stout that was perfectly astringent and gorgeous.

I sipped Ben's bourbon barrel aged Big Operator (too much bourbon).

We've got such a great brewing scene here, I love it.

It's that time of year when we make ourselves feel virtuous by saying we'll give up bad habits, or do a list of things. I'll break mine down by category.

Writing
- Finish revisions on Valkyrie One
- Prepare and send my VP application
- Completely revise Iron and Rust
- Outline next novel

Taiji
- Practice something every day
- Test for yellow sash (either end of 2011 or Metal Rabbit)

Fitness
- Keep going to Pilates at least once a week
- Add back the elliptical at least once a week

Life & home
- Fix the front yard
- Clean up the mess in front of my bookshelves
- Sell books & fancrap I don't need
- DECLUTTER
- Organize the sewing room (I'm scared to go in)
- Come up with a plan for moving to Berlin in 10-15 years
- Convince Ben this isn't a harebrained scheme
- Drink more Scotch

Work
- Get paid for something (there's not much on any temp/per diem/travel on any of the 3 agencies I know of that operate in NC. And I can't work outside NC, legally.)

I ought to sit down with paper and make detailed notes for how I want to accomplish some of these things (like yellow sash), because they're rather vague, and vague doesn't help me get shit done.

This year I went in with a crazy new plan: not tasting any beer I already know I like. I have to save up, right? There's only so much beer a gal can drink.

brewery, name of beer, style, description from program book, rating, notes.
( long list ahoy )

I got another reward certificate in yesterday's mail. I still had one from a month or two ago on the kitchen table, so I decided to bring them upstairs, since I remembered having another one up here. I was wrong; I actually had 2. So I had $100 of free Amazon money, which I decided I should spend. (I also had $6 left over from my last reward certificate purchase. I'm honestly terrified to ask how many of these we get in a year, at one certificate for $2500 of credit card use. I'll guess about 9. All our discretionary spending goes on the card.)

( So I went through my wish list and cleared a bunch of things off it. )

And in a few hours, Mo & Nolan are coming over with take-out from Tandoor and a weird beer (hopefully the Dogfish Head Sah'tea?) and we're gonna try weird beers. I have a bottle of New Holland's Dragon's Milk Ale (aged in oak barrels!) in the fridge.

Mothership Wit is a Belgian-style white beer, brewed with wheat and spices (typically orange peel, coriander, cloves, and/or cardamom.) It's also certified organic (USDA and Oregon Tilth.)

I bought it in a 22-oz bottle, for $3.50. Pretty good price, considering that my favorite Belgian white, Hoegaarden, costs about $10 for 6 11-oz bottles.

It's not as good as Hoegaarden, but it's got a similar flavor. Somewhat sharper, maybe? Possibly cardamom, which has that sharp, astringent flavor to it.

I would recommend this to people who like Hoegaarden but don't like its price tag.

(Trying the crosspost tool from Dreamwidth, in alpha.)

(I drank a lot of beer on vacation. I like beer. Speaking of which, if you also like beer, Beeradvocate.com is an awesome resource.)

This was called "Duvel Golden" on the menu, but according to my searching, it's regular old Duvel, which is another Belgian strong pale ale. It's got a different flavor than DT, fruitier and maybe slightly spiced.

It's a lot like Hoegaarden, if it were less yeasty and twice as alcoholic. Considering that I'd be content to drink Hoegaarden forever, that's saying a lot.

Also, I'm incredibly thankful to the folks at pop the cap for getting the 6% ABV law repealed. Thanks to their efforts, the variety of beer accessible to North Carolinians widened considerably.

Ben's folks bought a mixed 12-pack for a party, and this was left in their fridge. Being adventurous, I decided to try it. (If I didn't like it, Tom might!) The label described it as a dark, malty ale with chocolate flavors, so I figured I couldn't go too wrong with that.

I poured it into a glass with Charlie Brown characters on it (only non-wine glass I could find... WTH.) and found it to be quite black, almost stout-like in appearance, except with more head. The taste was also stout-like, with a nice malty chocolate aftertaste. It's only 5.6% ABV, so it doesn't pack too big a punch.

It's a pretty tasty brew, and if you like stouts or would like them better if they weren't quite as heavy, give this a try.

These are the things I circled and made notes on.

Ace Cider - my note says "yum."
Allagash White - nice, kind of like Hoegaarden. An acceptable substitute, actually.
Sam Adams Twisted Tea - tastes like the tea with lemon you get in a can. Seriously.
Sam Adams Cherry Wheat - still a decent brew, for an American mass-brewer.
Fort Collins Chocolate Stout - eh. I tried their pomegranate wheat last year and was underwhelmed.
Gordash Brewing Co - Holy Mackerel Mack in Black - I'm not sure what I think of this. It's a stout with pomegranate juice. Very weird.
Leinenkugel's Raspberry Wheat - If you like raspberry lambic but hate the price tag, this beer is for you.
Kalnapilis Brewery (Lithuania) 7:30 lager - I liked this. I don't remember much else, but it was lightly sweet I think, and not revoltingly hoppy.
Kona Brewery Wailua Wheat - a wheat beer with passion fruit juice. Very interesting, and not too syrupy sweet.
Matt Brewing Co - Pomegranate Wheat: I liked this better than the Fort Collins one last year. I'd probably drink a whole bottle.
Matt Brewing Co - Imperial Stout: Holy shit. That's what I'm talking about. Full-bodied, lots of coffee taste. Not as overwhelming as the Russian Imperial by Duck-Rabbit I tried last year.
Natty Greene's Buckshot Amber Ale - No. I don't like amber ales, but I tried it anyway.
New Holland Dragon's Milk Oak Aged Ale - Also tasty. I vaguely recall it being nice, not overly hoppy, and having a sort of herbal taste to it (that might be the oak aging.)
Pyramid Crystal Wheat - a nice example of the variety. (Essentially, it's a Hefeweizen without the Hefe.)
Redhook Late Harvest - didn't like it, but I don't remember specifics.
Southampton Altbier - I wanted to try an Altbier, since I never had. I don't think I shall again.
Starr Hill Brewery Dark Starr Stout - this was more bitter than some others.
Uinta Punk'n - I think that's the one I tried. Not sure.
Unibroue Trois Pistoles - I know I don't have to buy the prettily packaged 4-pack now.

ETA links to breweries