On my way to go camping this weekend I stopped at a liquor store to get some beers; unfortunately, my cooler is too narrow for regular bottles, so it was between Red Stripe and Negro Modelo. I do want to revisit Red Stripe at some point (it's been at least two years), but I had to go with the dark, caramel goodness of Modelo.

Whenever I buy something like this — that is to say, something I'm used to getting at the bar — I always feel especially thrifty. I mean, six beers for what I would normally pay for one?

(Why did I refuse to buy that six-pack of Hopslam again? Was it really because it was as expensive as two pints of Hopslam at the bar?)

PBR and Premium were there for us when the Modelo ran out, but without any game or other real reason to keep drinking, I stopped well before I got too drunk, i.e. the point where I would be hungover the next day. This is progress.

I went to Mankato on Saturday, and The Sugar Room there turned out to be kind of a cool bar.

(Although they apparently cleared off Brooke's friend Wes' drink when it was still 2/3 full, which would be beyond strange. I have an easier time believing that someone stole it.)

I had a Summit EPA, my second-favorite Summit after the Great Northern Porter, and because I was feeling adventurous I followed that up with a Guinness.

That... wasn't very good. Guinness has a reputation as a finicky beer ("have you had it on tap," "have you had it in Europe," etc.) and for whatever reason this particular draft didn't impress me.

Yesterday with dinner I had my last New Glarus Organic Revolution. I kept grabbing those from the fridge because I didn't want to drink anything too dark or too special, but it's actually really good.

Labels: APA, Grupo Modelo S.A. de C.V., Guinness, Guinness Ltd., Irish Dry Stout, Negro Modelo, New Glarus Brewing, Organic Revolution, The Sugar Room, Vienna Lager

Let's review two different methods of not getting too drunk:

Stopping after two beers at happy hour: smart
Overeating at the company picnic: not smart

I was stuffed, and so while I enjoyed the conversation with Jess (and eventually Barb and Markie and Shelley) at the Happy Gnome yesterday, I was in no condition to enjoy more than the first half pint of my beloved Fatty Boombalatty, and I had to nurse the Surly Cynic I ordered afterward.

Barb really likes the Tyranena Scurvy. It takes all kinds, I suppose...

At Barry's I excitedly poured everyone a half-glass of New Glarus Raspberry Tart. It was good, maybe very good, but personally I didn't think it lived up to the rather extreme hype it got from Beer School. I'd like to try it again at some point, as a first beer rather than a end-of-the-night affair on a full stomach, and I'm excited that there's a good, relatively inexpensive domestic framboise... but I'm not a Raspberry Tart apostle just yet.

(I also got to try a bit of Barry's Flat Earth Convention Ale. It might be a bit too smoky for me.)

Labels: Belgian Pale Ale, CynicAle, Fatty Boombalatty, Fruit Lambic, Furthermore Beer, New Glarus Brewing, Raspberry Tart, Saison, Surly Brewing, The Happy Gnome

I usually try to have a special beer on Lost night: this week Ben brought over some New Glarus, and I had the Hop Hearty IPA.

Verdict: meh, ho-hum IPA. I'm not sure my assessment can be trusted though, because for some reason I drank this beer straight from the bottle instead of using a glass.

You could also read that last sentence as: for some reason I think that pouring beer into a glass makes it way better, rather than just slightly better. It makes it classier though. New beers do taste better if there's some solemnity to the initial sip.

I also had Rogue Dead Guy Ale, which is probably my favorite Rogue beer and possibly one of my favorite beers.

Labels: American IPA, Dead Guy Ale, Hop Hearty, Lost beers, Maibock, New Glarus Brewing, Rogue Ales Brewery