Modern Vespa

That looks tasty. I may do a road trip to Knoxville to use a free hotel night before Christmas. What are your fav breweries in Knoxville?

I have been to Balter (beer was ok but the vibe was kind of Applebee's with upscale food) and Hi-Wire (Headed to the Asheville location on the 26th. A fav in Asheville)

My alter identity is @craftbrewgeek on the socials.

We usually go to Bearden Beer Market as that's where we often get kegs from. We haven't lived in Knoxville long and much of the time has been spent on finishing the new house. So we haven't been able to go to many of the breweries or brew pubs yet. I've been meaning to do the Ale Trail. https://www.visitknoxville.com/restaurants/breweries-taprooms-/

I like beers from Schulz Brau Brewing Company, YeeHaw and Hexagon. I've been trying to get over to Gypsy Barrel house for their Sunday dance events but with my husband recovering from knee replacement it hasn't happened. Since we just finished the keg of cider I have an excuse to pick up a keg there to replace it.

Let me know if you are coming to Knoxville and we'll met you for a pint.

A rare Florida spotting of Spotted Cow tonight.

It is only available in Wisconsin, so I bought a case on my way home from the Yooper Loop with Dave, Derrick and Kraig last summer.

I thought I drank them all months ago, but Sarah found a six pack in a cabinet in the kitchen.

Hot Dang!

Bill

Will do. Thanks for the ideas too!

We have 12 breweries within five miles of our house.

And one of the world's largest breweries, Budweiser, ten miles away.

We have been to all of them, but our favorite is Lemonstreet Brewery, where we have been taking our dog, Cooper, for the past two years.

The owners have become good friends and the beer is very good.

They also have the best Cuban sandwich in town for when food is needed.

Sarah and I go almost every Sunday and I go with Cooper on Wednesdays while Sarah goes to Yoga.

Yoga vs good beer??? I pick beer.

Bill

I have not been to Lemonstreet, but lots of great breweries in your town. I might have left my mark at Strings and Hyperion

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We live a quarter mile from the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Van Nuys, California.

It used to include Busch Gardens with boat rides, a monorail, and free beer and admission.

Yes, free beer.

Unfortunately, the gardens were demolished in 1979 to add more brewery space for light beer.

We can tell which way the wind is blowing by whether or not we smell the wort.

https://laddandkelsey.org/busch-gardens/

Brewed in Calgary, Alberta. To me, stouts and porters are my favourite 'winter' beers. I prefer IPAs in the summer. The 'hoppier,'the happier!

Jess's Whisky Problem


For the last 10 years or so, I have been putting away special bottles (for various definitions of "special") for a rainy day. Some of them are specifically distilled in 1991, the year I started at Apple. I had anticipated that I would one day pull them out for a party -- an anniversary party or a going-away party -- but I retired on my 30th anniversary, using up both opportunities in one go during the middle of a pandemic. I think I only opened one bottle that day.

Other bottles are just old and random, or in one case very old and very random. Some were a steal. Some I paid too much for. It all comes out in the wash.

So my problem, then, is that I have been afraid to open any of these. I have no good occasion on the horizon, and in fact if I ever move to Europe, these are almost surely not coming with me.

So I guess I will have to drink them.

Right after I took that photo, my wife walked in the door with some fresh stock for my house bourbon and house rye.

Now I really do have too much.

Too much of too little?

I say make Tuesday night = special

When you're retired, every night is Tuesday night.

Tonight is Baileys to go with my cookies. Cheers.

We've got a few special bottles but the important one is a cask strength bottled from the cast by my husband at Jamison's Distillery in Cork. Plan is to open it when the first of our two sons get married. I suspect that will be in about 3 years as my youngest has said he and his live in girlfriend "intend" to get married at some point but no particular plans or formal engagement yet.

I'm kicking myself because I meant to go refill the nitrogen bottle for the Cali Cream tap today but by the time I remembered it was too late and now I can't do it until Monday.

As problems go, not a bad one to have.

I once bought a bottle of Springbank whisky at the distillery in Campbeltown. Proper good stuff from the last surviving producer in the region, Springbank is the only distillery in Scotland that still malts, distils, and matures all on their own site. I stood alongside the guy as he dipped the cask and handfilled the bottle.

I bought it as a gift for a family member's significant birthday. I was taking a bit of a risk, I knew that the recipient occasionally drank whisky, but I didn't know if they liked single malt.

I found out later that the recipient had indeed drunk the whole bottle over the course of a couple of months. I also learned that they had mixed every drop of it with lemonade.

I guess I'm just saying don't let good whisky go to waste.

With that thought in mind, and being that it's actually Friday and it's actually 5 o'clock right here where I stand, I've decided to open one of the vaguely special bottles.

This is one of the 1991 bottles, and I had two of them, so it was the safest choice. I used to have four of them!

And I couldn't find my proper scotch glass, so had to settle for a Canadian whiskey glass.

Shudder, but if it made the recipient happy I guess that's all that matters.

It really bugs me when somebody orders a really good premium whisky and coke. But then I'm a bit old a whisky, beer and coffee snob.

Both Heinekens and Paulaner Märzen...

Jess,

Good on you. It appears you have real appreciation for fine
whisky. Drinking it neat.

I probably wreck good brandy by drinking it with diet seven up.
Despite not being a purist, I can still taste the quality of a better
brandy. I kind of wish I had developed an appreciation for
better scotch whiskey. My son has.

I do appreciate a fine cigar. That is why a appreciate your loves.
I do drink liquors neat. Each night, I look forward to a fine cigar
with a brandy seven and sip Strega Liquor from Italy.

Like scootering, life is good. Enjoy that collection. Both are
a good quality of life.

Bob Copeland
Saturday night, third brand and 25% left on the cigar, playing
my Bango during TV commercials.

Oh, I'm not a purist -- it just depends on what I'm drinking. Some whiskies need a little bit of water to open up. I've found this particularly true of the Japanese whiskies. Other are a bit too "hot" (high ABV) and need a splash of water just to bring it into a palatable range.

I even like some whiskies (bourbons, in particular) with a very small bit of ice -- which adds water and cold at the same time.

This particular Scotch I drank neat, though.

I never, ever add mixers to whisky (or even whiskey) though. Unless I guess I order a Manhattan or something, but it's not the kind of thing I usually make at home.

Something to keep an eye out for.

Handful of reasons for the rye whisky drinker to get their hands on this, if no other reason then to pour your drink out of a pig's backside.

Oh my. That's positively scandalous.

If it whistles as it pours, I would give them all of my money.

A true marketing miss if it doesn't.

Not as good as one would hope…

Iconic! But that's the wrong axe.

How about pouring it out of an Old Crow's head?

When I opened this latest bottle of Scotch, I searched high and low for my single remaining Glencairn glass, to no avail.

So this showed up on my doorstep today.

serendipity

My dad liked scotch, but not good scotch, he liked Anthony's scotch. It came from the local liquor store.

I drank whatever beer was in front of me until one day, in Texas, I drank a Shiner Boch - Wow!, there's flavor in beer! Now it's as dark and full of flavor as I can get. Or Guiness.

In two months I'll have some stout to drink, but tonight I'm going with a space theme.

Finally decided to crack open one of the two cans of Untitled Art Barrel Aged Chocolate Raspberry Imperial Stout that I brought home from my July trip to Wisconsin.

It's 11.7% ABV, and probably should be served in a snifter, and split between two people. I don't have a snifter, and my wife doesn't drink anymore, so I had to fall on the grenade.

It was as good as I remember.

She did have a taste, and said, "I can see why you like it."

And yes, that is Barbara Bain peeking over the can in the background.

Nice, love a drop of Ardbeg!

Reminds me, Ardbeg have this customised space invaders cabinet at their distillery on Islay...

Oh, that's just too cool.

I have a several Glencairn glasses for just such an event. Most of my scotch is from Highland Park (Orkney), I have several of their different varieties - some being saved for a special occasion. Also have some Glenfiddich and a bottle of The Sassenach - blended by Sam Heughan of 'Outlander' fame...

It's nice to have a couple of drams while watching a 'Time Team' episode...

Tonight's Whiskey Advent Calendar selection 90 proof

As usual, I'm late to the party. But I'm enjoying what I think is a very good locally distilled small batch single malt with a lot of peat. And outside, it's a balmy 32 degrees f. Perfect night for a dram or two.

And what would the name of this peaty American malt?

It's made in very small batches, using only the finest municipal tap water from the Ozarks, in a distillery about six feet outside my kitchen, and doesn't have a name yet. About a year and a half ago, I made the mistake of adopting two female "miniature" pigs after they got to be 200 lbs, and not as much fun to wheel around in strollers for the kids who bought them as pets, so they wouldn't be eaten. Two months ago, they both had babies, which wasn't something I expected, wanted or planned for, and I've had a pack of 12 semi feral pigs tearing up my yard. I've been calling them a special breed of Truffle Pigs, again so they hopefully don't get eaten, and have managed to whittle the herd down to the two moms and three babies now. That's still a lot of pigs. The father, who doesn't seem to belong to anyone and has tusks and a limp, showed up a week ago for a short visit and I suspect there might be more babies on the way. At this point, I'm starting to think they might be delicious. So maybe Accidental Pig Farmer, or APF, which could also mean Another Personal Fiasco.
It's time to invest in a better fence.