Mazatlan

Our second port of call was Mazatlan.  We all stopped and paused for the obligatory tourist picture.  Our activities for the day involved an estuary tour, a "Mexican Limo" ride along the beach to our lunch time destination followed by lounging on the beach.  And the entire tour had free beer: Tecate.  

A to Z Challenge: H is for HooDoo

HooDoo Brewing Company was the only brewery I visited in Alaska.  I can't judge all Alaskan beers the same but I kinda want to.  I really didn't find any beer that stood out among the rest that I tried.  Most if not all of the beers from HooDoo had this funky aftertaste.  Like if I had mixed up a handful of dirt in with my beer.  I get the same dirt flavor when I have had Budweiser or similar swill.  But I digress, let me move on to the beers.  A flight of 6 is twelve USD.

Sorry about the shitty picture but I was too busy dying of Thai food coma.  But I will list off the 6 we tried (it was what they had available):

German Kölsch: ABV 5.1% // IBU 25

Belgian Saison: ABV: 5.9% // IBU: 19

Scottish Export Ale: ABV: 5.6% // IBU: 26

American IPA:  ABV: 7.2% // IBU: 73

Belgian Tripel: ABV: 8.3% // IBU: 30 

HooDoo Stout: ABV: 5.8% // IBU: 45 

I did have a second helping of their HooDoo Stout, we even took home a growler to share back home.  For a small brew company they do a great job with the selection of merchandise and keep their website up to date with what's on tap.

A to Z Challenge: D is for Deschutes

Borrowed without asking from their website.*

One of the things I enjoy doing when I travel is to explore local breweries.  Pop in, have a bite and a flight.  And that's just what my sister and I did while we had a long layover in Portland.  I have tried Deschutes' Mirror Pond Ale as well as their Black Butte Porter, time to try a little more!

Makes you thirsty don't it!

We both selected a different flight and shared with each other.   

From the top left to right on the first two rows is the Brewer's Choice:

*Hop Henge Experimental IPA - IBU's: 99; ABV: 9.3%

*Fresh Squeezed IPA - IBU's: 60; ABC: 6.4%

*Double Impact Belgian IPA - IBU's: 55; ABV: 6.1%
*Cinder Cone Red - IBU's: 55; ABV: 5.4%

*Bachelor Bitter - IBU's: 4.3; ABV: 5.0%

*Hoppy Pilsner - IBU's: 41; ABV: 5.0%
Followed by The Classics:
*Deschutes River Ale - IBU's: 28; ABV: 4.0%

*Mirror Pond Ale - IBU's: 40; ABV: 5.0%

*Chainbreaker White IPA - IBU's: 55; ABV: 5.6%

*Inversion IPA - IBU's: 80; ABV: 6.8%

*Black Butte Porter - IBU's: 30; ABV: 5.2%

*Nitro Obsidian Stout - IBU's: 55; ABV: 6.4%

The Deviled Eggs are to DIE for!

And shared some snacks while we enjoyed our beers.

Stout Deviled Eggs and Grilled Washington Pear and Goat Cheese Pizza; oh yeah it was good.  And the food paired quite well with some of our beers.

The service was neither good or bad but the beer and food was good.  I probably don't want to return to Portland unless it was specifically to visit breweries.  Portland did not give me a good vibe and I tend to trust my instincts about places.  I won't discount all of Oregon because I have had great times in Klamath Falls.

*I met an adorable little busker outside of the place and gave him all of our travel snacks since we were on a plane back home.  A bag of pretzels was among the snacks, the busker happened to have a tattoo of a pretzel on his hip.  It was meant to be, he was happy for the snacks and all felt right with the world.

It's called, "I win!"

My sister and I went down to O'Sullivan's Pub on Thursday night for a pint and bonding time. And of course to celebrate me passing a test for a job promotion; next up is the interview.  While there, she was kind enough to purchase a raffle ticket for me. 

The raffle was held on Saturday but I left before they called out the winners. The pub is closed on Sunday's so I assumed since I didn't get a call Saturday I didn't win. Turns out I won the second top prize, pretty cool huh.  I don't drink PBR but a mini-fridge is rad to own if you have an office with no means to keep your lunch from spoiling or you live with roommates.  My sister will get some good use out of this fridge either at home or in her office.

 

Thanks for the raffle ticket Sylvia.
And thanks for the mini-fridge O'Sullivan's.

 

Noble Ale Works

Seeing as I will be driving down again to Costa Mesa this Thursday, I figured I better make my beer post about the last time I drove down.  I got in touch with hardkoretom who suggested Noble Ale Works.  I decided to give it a try and take another opportunity to chat with a fellow blogger after a day of relaxing and then shopping.  I got there before he did and settled in to decide on what I would fancy for my first visit.

Solvang Brewing Company

Well, how was it?

The beer was good.

The food was mediocre.

The service was terrible.

After a nice day hiking with my mom and sister, we decided to drive into Solvang for a bite to eat.  Solvang Brewing Company is a place we had yet to try and decided we would give it a go.  The place was not very busy when we got there and we were urged to sit any place we liked.

Why is Susie lagging at blog posts? - Part 2

Answer:  Because she was too busy enjoying food, drinks and friends.

Depth of field

... it's been done a million times.  I know this.  But I have never really tried to take pictures that required me to mess with the focal point.  I will share my favorite shot/s first.  

This was taken at the Vietnam Memorial in Capitol Park.  I thought I did okay with changing my focal point between the flowers and the memorial wall.  My next photo is my fail at depth of field.  It was also the memorial wall but I didn't like how it turned out.

Time to dust off the old camera.

Fujifilm S5100

Well, after months of procrastinating I finally did it.  I grabbed my old camera, dusted it off and slapped new batteries in it.  I haven't used this camera in so many years, I think I am going to run through a quick how to.  I might as well use it to its full capabilities rather than just point-click.  I have a crap camera and iPhone for that kind of stuff.

Fat Attack Part Zwei

In a previous post I promised a few more pictures of food and beverages from Germany.  After reviewing the pictures my sister had it seems that it's mostly beverages not so much food.  So for your viewing pleasure I will start with something that is familiar but not so familiar.

Fat Attack!

I love food and good beer. What better place to indulge in both than Germany. I tried to snap shots of everything my sister and I consumed. Sometimes we forgot to take pictures because we were ravenous and towards the end of our trip flat out lazy. So pictured above is my last beer (Sweetwater 420) that I had stateside in the Atlanta Airport. The beer was okay but I was about to embark on a journey to taste bud heaven in Germany.

Beer is good.

I think after work I would like a beer. It was a long day and I want it to feel good now.

Let’s hope that I get my reclass and that I get some good amount of house work done tonight.

Beer tasting

Yesterday I had beer tasting and sandwich eating day. It was nice, mellow and much needed relaxation time.

I got to enjoy six different brews from Sam Adams for about sixish bucks... what a deal! Not to mention yummy sandwich to accompany my brews. My six brews were as follows:

1. Boston Lager - Meh had it before, I still enjoy it.


2. Dunkelweizen - Whoa I loved it! Dark wheaty goodness, nice taste and really refreshing; even for a dark beer. I will keep my eye out for this one again.


3. Harvest Pumpkin Ale - I recommend pouring it into a glass and avoiding the bottle. You get the full aroma of the pumpkin and spices, don't sell yourself short of a good experience. Pour into a glass!


4. Octoberfest - Pretty darn smooth, had it before and I enjoy this time of year because I get the chance to purchase it.


5. Black Lager - I've had this before, being a fan of dark beers, I really enjoy it. It's really tasty, I think maybe if I find it again I will have it with my meat eater dinner of steak and potatoes.


6. Irish Red - I have had this before and it kinda has a sweetness to it, I like it but not nearly as much as the darker beers I had during my beer sitting this go around.

Be sure to pour your brews into clean glasses to fully enjoy an unspoiled taste and fully enjoy the aroma and taste of your beer.

Spawn trying to drink my beer!

Sometimes I wish I carried a purse just to carry toys to the bar with me to keep myself entertained.

Happy 250th Guinness!

My sisters and I enjoying Guinness' 250th anniversary!

Blueberry Oatmeal Stout

It was very very tasty!

Pyramid Brewery and Restaurant

Round 1
This round consisted of: Mactarnahan’s Black Watch Cream Porter, Apricontweizen, Oregon Honey Beer, Thunderhead IPA and Snow Cap.

They were all quite tasty… I would say the two dark and the Apri were my fave of this group.


Round 2
By the time I got this round I totally forgot to pay attention to what I had and what I had not had. So you guys get to figure out what I did drink. There were ten possible drinks I could have and I had one of each kind. I listed the ones I did pay attention to above. So, that would leave 5 remaining that I did not list. If you find the answer you get a prize… oooOOOoOOOOOoooo the mystery of the prize!