Sunday [Late] Night Dinner (Discretion Brewing - Uncle Dave's Rye IPA)

As I left Aptos/Santa Cruz with a load of possessions on the truck back to Oakland, I brought with me 2 bombers of beer from Discretion Brewing, a small brewing company off 41st in (Capitola, I believe?)  Somehow, I'd passed by nigh every day for a year and never seen the sign, so when I randomly caught sight I knew I had to try it out.

Went in... and... saw the beers on the wall.  Bombers by the counter.

Naturally, I grabbed the aged stout, but I also grabbed this IPA, "Uncle Dave's Rye IPA".

funny how most all my pictures are very similar...

So here I am on Sunday night.  I made some Eggplant, Bean, and Yam Soup (Damn right I capitalize it!) so I'm eating some of that and drinking some Uncle Dave's Rye IPA.

At 6.5%, this is no Denogginizer.  But what does that matter?  Most every beer tastes different, and I can't understand the people trying to just get as much alcohol as possible, unless of course that's your main goal and you're sipping 99 cent Crazy Stallion Malt Liquor from a paper bag on Troutman and Knickerbocker in Bushwick, Brooklyn.  Shout out to that homeless guy that always stared very intently at me from across the street.

Yeah.

So at first sip, I realize that this is indeed delicious soup and Uncle Dave's is very mellow.  I'm getting a bit of hops up in my face but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  I'm strongly reminded of Deschutes' Armory XPA, actually.  This tastes a little bitter on the tail end, which means that you don't feel thirsty or overcome by dat burr (a good thing).  Also, pine trees.

Very easy drinking.

Oh, and nice label, come to think of it.  I haven't gone camping since I was a lot younger, but one day I'll backpack out with some beer and burn stuff and sleep in a tent.  And go fishing.  Can't forget the fishing.

Damn, I'm enjoying this soup.  Errm.  Back to the beer.  Hella refreshing.  Light, but not LIGHT.

Funny thing about beer is that you kinda learn about what you like and what you enjoy drinking as you drink more diverse types and styles from different places; Last time I had a rye IPA I think I discounted it as just "meh, beer".  And I think I might be able to lightly taste it now.

Trainer Tip!

Drink Hella Beer


Et... to end this.  It's a fun beer.  Not my favorite, but a breath of fresh uh... well, beer.  Easy drinking yet different enough to distinguish it from the rest of the pack.  I recommend this.  I'll throw something up on here again when I drink the other beer from Discretion.

Good one, Uncle Dave.


Peace.

It grows cold outside. Dark beers are required.

So what with everyone getting hype about oktoberfest and pumpkin-y beers, I decided to buck the trend.  I decided that beer wasn't enough for me anymore.  I had to go deeper.  I had to drink used engine oil.

Harveiestoun's Old Engine Oil.  I've heard of this one prior to seeing it in San Jose (shout out to Boynton Liquors for having an amazing variety of beer despite outwardly looking like a standard liquor store) so when I noticed it on the shelf, I had to grab one.

First off, it says "Black Ale" but tastes like a stout or porter.  So there's that.  It says 6% alcohol, but tastes like more than that.

This is one of those beers that goes down pretty quick, has a decently harsh aftertaste, but finishes dry.  You can actually taste a little bit of roast grain in there somehow... Everyone says it tastes chocolatey, but  I'm catching hella harsh dark dark dark chocolate.  This isn't the kind of beer you can drink quick.  Or rather, you probly shouldn't.

It has interesting flavor and aftertaste, and it really reminds me of some of the red wines I've drank because it's making me salivate as I write this.  (Or is that a personal problem...).  I can also taste the alcohol, which is a bit of a turn off for me.  Hmmm... if I close my eyes and drink it, I can almost envision a stout being squeezed out of a ball of asphalt with added burnt grains.  Heh.

Would I get it again?  for a 11.2 oz bottle that's over 5 bucks, probably not.  I get that it's a small batch beer from Scotland and that it has flavor, but I can think of way cheaper beers that come in larger quantities and are better in other ways.  BUT I LIKE THE MOUSE ON THE BOTTLE!  ...damn smug rodent.

DELTRON 3030!!!! POSITIVE CONTACT!

Shout out to Deltron 3030 and Dan the Automator for making a beer with Dogfishhead, of 75 and 90 and 120 and probably other minute IPA fame.  Positive Contact-Contact-Contact-etc

Yeah I used to listen to their songs, I still listen to "Mastermind" and "Madness" on occasion, that's been my jam forever.  Positive Contact's been up there too, so when I saw the label had it written on there, I was like, "Yo. I gotta see what's up."  So I open the fridge door, and lo and behold,

POSITIVE CONTACT WITH APPLE CIDER AND STUFF LIKE THAT

TASTES LIKE CIDER MIXED WITH HEFEWEIZEN

BUENO

YA

WHOA

WHOA

also halloween and shit but the squirrels ate the pumpkins

RIP pumpkinbro

he died

OH RIGHT

back to the beer

positive contact tastes good but it aint my favorite

it aint my least favorite by a long shot though

im not a cider person doh

my grammar gets better when I drink.

Also, Jubelale.  at some point

BAD WEEKNIGHT

BEER 1: ZYWIEC

How can you go wrong with Poland's number 1 beer?

BY DRINKING IT.

Even the military fellow does not enjoy staring at this bottle.

I saw Zywiec (Zvwiec?) signs all over Brooklyn when I lived there.  And yet.  I never tried it.  Now, I can't say that that was a bad thing.

Here is a haiku

I cannot pronounce

I cannot enjoy either

Pabst?  No.  Sadly worse.

I take a sip and it reminds me of the sad days when I drank Coors from a can.  But forgot about the can for a few hours and came back and took a sip.  I would liken this beer to Red Stripe.  If Red Stripe had less flavor and was flatter.

And so my evening was unfortunate.  How could I let myself continue living for the night without a good beer?

Maybe I should buy a parrot and train it to say things.  Like "DON'T DRINK ZYWIEC!  AWWK"etc

Yeah I'd probably drink this at a barbecue or something.  If it was cold.  and the temperature outside was very hot.

Gah.

BUT I CANNOT LET IT END LIKE THIS.

BEER 2 - Deschutes - Hop in the Dark

Oh Deschutes.  I love most of your beers.  ...though when I went to your taproom in Portland your Doppel Dinkel Bock murdered my soul with bananas and bubblegum...  Ahem.

Apparently this is an American Dark/Black Ale.  I'm hoping for a Lagunitas Nighttime kinda drank right now.  Whatever it is, I have faith in Deschutes.  

It tastes... flat.  Why is it flat.  This is a 3D world.  Wha-

Well, it's still better than Zywiyick.  But this tastes off.  It shouldn't taste off.

Your picture is so good, and yet... this is very subpa-

Shit.  I'm 2 months off the "best by" date.  Dammit.

I'll have to take a raincheck on this one.  Apparently HitD doesn't age well.  Bad night, I guess.  No good beer and I'm set back a few bucks in a depressing way.

argh

Well, on the other hand, I found this the other day -

And apparently it has spaghetti in it.   And is rated highly online!

I'm gonna go wash my mouth out.  And have a slice of pie.  Obama is about as disapproving as I am right now.  Bad luck tonight.  I shall return.

Shout out to the American Rifleman magazine for getting the absolutely most hilarious Obama pictures ever.  He looks so annoyed and evil in this haha

-Jack Moro

Black Diamond Brewing Company's Rampage Imperial IPA

Black Diamond Brewing Company - Rampage Imperial IPA

I went to Black Diamond Diamond Company the other day up in Concord (CA, naturally) and I picked up this Imperial IPA, the ELEPHANT THEMED RAMPAGE.  HOW COOL IS THAT ART?

...NOT AS GOOD AS THE ACTUAL BEER.

Holy shit.

I was surprised right off the bat.  Normally when you get a higher alcohol beer (this is 9.0%), you get a sort of "Man, this is too sweet to drink more than a little at once" or at least "I have to get used to this before I can finish the rest of the bomber".

Not so with this one.  I've tried Pliny the Elder from Russian River, I've tried Drake's Denogginizer, I've tried a bunch of beers.  This one dodges the aforementioned issues; it's really really easy to drink, and if you enjoy IPAs (or stronger Pale Ales, I'd bet), you'll probably like this.  A very welcome surprise.  If I see this in the store (not sure I've seen it anywhere other than in the bottle fridge in Concord but I can hope!), I'll definitely grab another.

I thought about writing some weird shit about this beer but I like it enough that I don't want to mock it.  Now go get one and enjoy it.  Well done, Black Diamond.

Jack Moro

Today was a long day.  So I had to crack open a beer.  I'd ordered a box online, of 4 different beers, 3 bottles of each, and received Bad Water Brewery's Western Lager and Saison, as well as Mendocino's Pilsner and Black IPA.

I've tried the Mendocino Black IPA.  I was not impressed.  It tasted like someone crushed orange peels into a decent IPA.  I've composed a haiku about it.

At First, It Ain't Bad

But Then, The Orange Peels Hit

The Earth Is Destroyed


I know that somewhere out there, there must be people that enjoy it.  And yet, I am clearly not one of these people.

"MAYBE THAT BEER IS TOO SUBTLE FOR YOU!" yells a voice in my head.
"MAYBE I WON'T DRINK THE OTHER TWO BOTTLES I HAVE LEFT!" I reply, confusing innocent bystanders by muttering incoherently.

And now I try Bad Water's "Western Lager".  I am confused at what a Western Lager is.  Is it just a lager brewed in the Western US?  Why is it capitalized?  What am I getting into?

The label reads, 'Designed in Arizona'.  This may be key.  Bad Water Brewing is from Monroe, WI.  This may also be key.  Hm.  Well.  Here goes.

Oh.  It may have been a screw top.  Womp.  It smells... like beer.  maybe I should pour it into a glass or something.  One second.

...

It smells like nearly any pilsner or lager to me. Has... has the subtlety been lost upon my non-discerning nose?  Uh-oh.

Am I supposed to mention foam head?  I think I am.  There's a little.  And it's white.  Does that help?  Cuz it doesn't help me.  Erm.  Moving on, it tastes more like a pilsner than a lager to me.  It has a faint metallic taste, a slight heaviness of "oh hey, you're drinking beer" taste, then dissipates.  I don't want to be a mean person to a non-macro brewery, but this kinda tastes like drinking fortified PBR.  Sorry Bad Water.  Maybe I'm just not a lager Western Lager person.

Well, that's it for tonight, I think.  Two beers on a weekday is probably a bad idea as it is.

Mysterious Catchy Memorable Slogan,

Blog Author

DECLARATION OF INTENT

A blog emerges, probably years and years too late to be of any relevance!  (WE SHALL SEE)

I was inspired by going to the tasty Drake's Brewing...'s First Friday event over in San Leandro, CA last week; 15 dollars gets you a glass, 3 drink tokens (they have something like 15 different beers on draft, from the things you'd normally find like 1500 Pale or Robusto Porter) and if you bring back your glass the next first Friday, drink tokens are something like 3.50, which is pretty damn good, especially for quality drankitizations.  Also 2 food trucks but we planned to eat later.  Whoosh.  I was a bit sad not to see the sobriety-chopping Denogginizer (~10% Imperial IPA that is absolutely tasty) I had enough trouble getting sober enough to drive home  convince my friend that he should probably drive because I was way too bouncy and happy on a Friday night after a long week...

All I know is that I had a Robusto Porter, something called 'Dark Matter', and something with the word 'Hella' in it.  And this glass.  There were a lot of people.  I shall return.


Erm.  So the intent of this blog is that I'll write something occasionally about beer.  Or video games.  Or life.  I might even write poetry or stream-of-consciousness stuff.  Or post pictures!  Or videos!  Hell, I don't know.


Just remember the immortal words of the strange man on the barstool at 2 in the afternoon,

"I need more beer.  Give me three."