Monks and Panthers

Had a nice trip, or actually two trips in March, back-to-back. The first one was to Philadelphia PA, to give a talk at a company I used to work for; and later in the week down to Charlotte, North NC.

Since I arrived at noon at the Philly airport the day before my talk, what else was there do but take a taxi downtown, to the incomparable Monk's Café.

As luck would have it, it was St. Patrick's Day, and Philadelphia does have a rich Irish heritage. Although, truth be told, my plan was to mostly drink Belgian beers because that is one of the many things Monk's is famous for.

It is also famous for good food and friendly people and great service etc. but I was there for the Belgian beer.  When I first arrived, it was not very busy, which is always good; and was able to get a prime seat at the 1st floor bar. Also by some strange happenstance, I actually had nothing green on, not even my socks or underwear. The friendly hostess at Monk's offered me a giant Cat-in-the-Hat-style green and white striped chapeau, to which I politely refused.

And even though I wanted Belgian beer, I first started with this.

Brooklyn    Wild Horse Porter w/ brettanomycetes     Ale, Porter, London    6.5%    [8.9]*

{*score on an openeded scale of 1-10, resolution 0.1}

Chatted with several people about beer and Monk's, and the weather, it was really having a great time. About that moment a large group of folks came in wearing, of course, green shirts and some green hats. These folks were happy and drinking and having a great time; what was kind of scary and someone else commented later; this was their first stop of 18 today; and a few them were already quite intoxicated. Good luck and God bless reaching pub number 18.

Ironically, the next beer was not Belgian either.

Haanbryggeriet    Haandbaak    Ale, Flemish Sour    8.5%    [8.7]

Ordered some food, a nice steak salad; I do this point regret not ordering the classic steamed mussels at Monk's, which are superlative.

Settled down into a routine of several Belgian beers after this.

De La Senne    Band of Brothers    Ale, Belgian Pale    4%    [8.8]    only on at 24 bars 

De La Senne    Jambe de Bois    Ale, Belgian Tripel    8%    [9.1]    

Struise Breweries    Tsjeeses Reserva '13    Ale, Belgian Strong    10%    [9.1]

Since they had a brochure for Moeder Lambic, I told the bartender and several people the story about how last year we were on vacation in Brussels, and drank there, and stayed at the Metropole Hotel.

It was only a month or so ago we found out that in one of my uncle's letters from WWII, he also stayed at the same hotel as we did; although separated by several decades!

What's interesting is in reviewing my notes, I realized I had beer #400 here a few years before with some friends, in 2007. What was even more interesting is the same beer is still available. And what was slightly shocking (but not surprising) is the same beer that was $25 back then, was now $50. I did share with several people in the bar, as is our custom.

Landtsheer Malheur    Malheur Brut Reserve    Ale, Belgian Strong    12%    [9.8]

Then in looking at my notes, I asked the bartender if her name was "X" (that is not her name I am just not putting it here).

It was and she was the same person who served me and some friends, way back in 2007.
Hasn't aged a pico-second.

What a rush, as was the beer; this was #5,879 by-the-way.

What I love about having a large bottle - or three - is sharing. You can share with other people around you, share with the bartender to try it (if allowed).

Silly    Port Barrel Aged Scotch Ale    Ale, Belgian Scotch    9%    [9.5]

One of the patrons shared theirs with me; he was more of a stronger porter/stout fan, and I think it was actually quite good; and even better, it was Belgian.

I decided, even though we have several bottles at home, I did not have this particular Cantillon beer. Extremely good, and much like the open-ended Richter scale, sometimes there's a beer that I rate above 10 on my 1 - 10 personal scale.

Cantillon    Bruocsella Grand Cru    Ale, Belgian Flemish Sour    5%    [10.2] 

Also note that recently I change my scale, so instead of using just 0.5, the increments are 0.1 for better resolution. Nothing anyone cares but that's why the score is 10.2 as opposed to 10.5!

shhhhhhhhhhh

Had a couple more Belgian beers, actually another one rated above 10.

Malheur    12    Ale, Belgian Quadrupel     12%       [9.7] 

Hof Ten Dormal  Barrel Aged #11 Armagnac Ale, Belgian Strong, Dark  12%   [10.1]   

Parenthetically I should add if you have never had Armagnac, it's worth trying. It's a variant of cognac not made in the Cognac region of France, and it has some slight differences in flavor. On our bartenders advice, she suggested the final beer not Belgian, but quite good and I agree it was.

Firestone Walker    Double Barrel    Ale, Strong, American    12%    [9.1]

The next morning, got to chat with some people I hadn't seen in 15 years or more, and had a successful meeting.


A few days later, headed down to Charlotte to give a similar lecture; hence the title of this particular chapter: Monks and Panthers as in Monk's Café and the Carolina Panthers.

As I got in early, tried a few local beers, nothing too fancy as this was the Hilton after all. Sadly in most chain hotels, as nice as they are, they have a beer selections that is nothing to write home about.

Olde Mecklenburg    Copper Amber Ale    Ale, Amber, American    4.8%    [6.7]

Olde Mecklenburg    Southside Weisse    Ale, Wheat, American    4.8%    [7.3]

NoDa    Woody & Wilcox IPA    Ale, IPA, American    6.2%    [8.0]  

Based on my reconnaissance, (and trust me, if Rommel planned as well as I did, well, you get the picture) I had several places in mind to get to. A quick taxi ride took me to Growlers Pour House.

For a snack/lunch I had their version of Poutine, which was delicious. And possibly as far South as you'll get it.

They had a very nice selection of local beers as well as regional; Also it was interesting to see how this state's laws allow growers to be filled in a bar.

Terrapin and New Belgium    Black is the New Wit   Ale, Wheat, Dunkel    8.2%    [8.1]   

Duck Rabbit    Baltic Porter    Ale, Porter, Baltic    9%    [9.8]    stylistically almost perfect 

North Coast    Puck the Beer Petite Saison    Ale, Saison    4%    [6.2] 

Terrapin    Rye Pale Ale    Ale, Pale, Rye    5.5%    [8.0] 

NoDa    Ramble on Red    Ale, Red    5%    [7.5] 

And yes, I was taking the temperature of some beers, because I do get obsessed sometimes.

I did leave Growlers planning to go to Salud, which is a short walk away. I did not realize that in between the two was Revolution Alehouse.

Tried the following two beers, the Gose was actually quite good; a slight saltiness without being forced.

Birdsong    Higher Ground    Ale, IPA, American    7%   [8.7] 

Champion     Face Eater    Gose    5%    [8.5]

For dinner had their capresé salad pizza with balsamic vinegar, which was recommended by Jerimiah, and was delicious without being too heavy.

Headed over to the Salud beer shop, where you can buy to go, as well as drink beer there. They're planning on having a kitchen soon, so if you live in the area, check them out in the next few months.

Started out with a personal favorite from an Asheville NC brewpub - Wicked Weed.

Wicked Weed    Dirty Weeds    Ale, IPA, Black    6.8%     [8.6]

Then several of these other beers.

Haw River   NoHoldsies Holdsie Sans  Ale, Belgian Tripel  8.2%  [7.5]  3rd anniversary

Bruery  Seven Swans a Swimming 7  Ale, Belgian Quadrupel  11%  [7.3]  boozy!

The last place to walk down to was the Heist brewery.

As it was getting late, and I had to talk the next morning, did not have too many here, only one.

Heist Brewery    Out to Pasture    Ale, Saison    7.5%    [7.5] 

I'll be back some other time, and they're not leaving anytime.

Did try the pork belly corndogs as a snack for bedtime, and then tried their unusual smoked drinks (Smoked Noda Manhattan)...

...on the advice of a local enthusiastic patron - it was fantastic.

Should have, but couldn't stay longer.

As a postscript I discovered the world of Uber. When I asked if the hostess if she could call cab, she asked if I've heard of Uber.

I said yes, but I didn't have an account; she quickly should me how to sign up, and within 4 minutes I was heading back to hotel. And as it was my first Uber ride, It was free!

So go to see some old friends, drum up new business, and drink several good beer at some spectacular places. 

Mark's Law of Beer

We've all heard of Murphy's Law, which is usually stated thusly:"If anything can go wrong, it will."

This is followed usually by Murphy's First Corollary: "Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse."

Which then leads to Murphy's Second Corollary: "It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious."

This often references Murphy's Constant: "Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value."

Leading lastly to O'Toole's Commentary: "Murphy was an optimist."

And you may have read or heard of other rules. There's the classic (and one presumes ancient) The Golden Rule: "He who has the gold, makes the rules" and the obtuse Vique's Law: "A man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle."

Let's add to this list, with Mark's Law of Beer. It is very simple, and in a couple of lines summarizes the entire craft and mass market beer drinking scene, from brewers to drinkers. It offends no one.

Some "award-winning" beers may not necessarily be good.

And some good beers may not necessarily be "award-winning."

That is all.

Beer Shipping Done Right

After I received a sweet bottle of Infinite Sadness that was apparently damaged in transit by the U.S. Post Office (causing me infinite sadness, but to be fair to them, it was a blizzard).

I did manage to recover a taste from inside the bubble wrap anyway.

I thought I'd share my knowledge on packing beers for shipping. So far "batting 1,000" across the US, as well as UK, Netherlands and Taiwan.

Let me say first off the bat that in the US anyway, the policy is the US Postal Service will not ship beer, and UPS will ship it if only you have a special permit. That is how I get my beer from Beer of the Month Club (BOTMC).

Actually it's more easy technically to receive beer in the US from outside the US. Regarding US regulations anyway, if you import or transport beer for personal consumption, there's no issue with that, and the only potential issue is the tax in your state. That and idiots like those at DHL.

To digress, here's a short story about someone who wanted to ship a bottle of Armageddon beer to me as a birthday present, from England. We researched all the rules and regulations about shipping and receiving and taxes.  And to summarize, is 100% legal to ship bottled beer out to the US from the UK, using a carrier like DHL. DHL can transport beer, and it is 100% legal to receive beer in the US, for personal consumption, without an importation license. And as it is for personal consumption, no Federal tax is due.

I even as far as to check the Massachusetts tax commission for liquor (as it was going to a MA address). They seemed almost perturbed when I called to ask about the duty on a single bottle of beer. They, not surprisingly, said no tax needed, thank you for calling.

So imagine my surprise when DHL would not release the beer; again this was 1 bottle of beer. When I spoke to DHL, I was told I did not have a beer import license. I stated it is not required by US Federal law, and the DHL person did not understand. So I was transferred from a lower drone to higher-level drone to supervising drone (I believe the supervisory-level drones do have the ability to reproduce).

I was made aware that DHL has a double secret, unpublished secret policy (did I mention it's secret) about not releasing beer shipments of any quantity unless the recipient has an import license.  The reason I was told - and I swear I can't make this up - is this "proves the recipient is of legal drinking age." As if someone under-aged would spend 40 Pounds to get a bottle of beer from the UK shipped to the US, so they could drink it a week later.

I did offer to come to the Boston area DHL office and show my passport, or drivers license, or birth certificate, or let them count the rings around my eyes to prove my age, but that did not work.

Fortunately, the person who shipped it filled out all the proper import/tariff code information (parenthetically, there are international tariff codes for everything, which defines the import tax). If DHL had read the description and code, and seen it was beer, they should have refused to transport without confirming the recipient had an import license. Maybe DHL's policy is so secret, the folks in the UK don't know about it?

In the end, DHL had to refund the shipping fees. I did get the beer a few months later in England; I over there in a business trip. Ironically, it wasn't that good.

Anyway back to shipping beer. As we have seen, apparently one state doesn't care about the miniscule tax on a bottle (maybe 2-3 bottles?) so let's just assume all states don't. What other issues are there from real world standpoint? Beers are not a dangerous good to ship, meaning it is not flammable nor corrosive nor toxic as defined by US DOT or IATA.

Therefore it can be shipped, and here's how to do it.

The first thing is get a sturdy box; you should have a box at least 2 inches deeper than the largest diameter of the bottle you shipping. The box should also be at least 3 inches longer than the longest bottle you will be shipping. The size of the box also depends on how sturdy it is. If it's really thick cardboard, you're fine with these minimum dimensions. If it's kind of flimsy cardboard, you may need it to be larger to increase the "crush space."

  

So for example, a large bottle of Bear Republic Racer X, is 11.5" tall by 3" in diameter. Therefore the appropriate box would be at least 14.5 inches tall (11.5 + 3) and 5 inches deep (3 + 2).

The second thing you need is Ziploc bags. Gallon size freezer Ziploc bags are absolutely the best thing to put beer in, whether it's cramming it in a suitcase when you're traveling, or shipping it. Cans, bottles, half-growlers all fit. Also note that larger bottles, like a caged bottle of Two Roads Workers Stomp, will fit. You just have to stretch the bag around the bottom of the bottle and the zipper will close.

This type of containment is very important for smaller bottles and certainly cans as well. I just put each one in a Ziploc bag, seal it and roll it up nice and tight.

A caged bottle seal is quite durable. However, a larger bottle with just a cap has the potential to have more CO2 dissolved in the beer and can be problematic, as I have seen. What I usually do is wrap the end very tightly in saran wrap, followed by packing tape to hold the seal tight, so hopefully so there's no loss.

Keep in mind these boxes don't always travel at sea level. If they go in the cargo hold of an airplane, that box will be subjected to much less atmospheric pressure, which means the bottle's inside pressure has an even greater chance of popping a cap off.

What else I like to do, is wrap each bottle with bubble wrap. I use the thin sheets of bubble wrap that are pre-perforated, and I wrap the bottles on a diagonal. This is so when you're done, you tape it sealed and fold/tape the ends over, to protect each end of the bottle or can.

The cans or bottles are put in the box with padding underneath and on the top. This can be foam, Styrofoam peanuts, or shredded paper. Some good things to use are the "air bubbles" that come from Amazon; the large ones are great bits of packing material to re-use. Also the boxes from BOTMS are super for 750 ml bottles. 

I like to use folded cardboard at the ends of each beer bottle/can sometimes, as well is in-between the bottles. This pretty much guarantees that unless the box is drop-kicked off a six-foot loading dock, the contents should be okay.

Just so you know, most commercial shippers' standard is your package must survive a 6 foot drop onto a hard surface.

The box should be sealed securely with proper packing tape; I usually go over other seems just make sure everything is tight. In this way everything is packed securely, and this also means if a bottle does leak, it probably will not wet the packaging and alert the carrier that you are shipping beer.

The address labels are also important; put them on at least two sides of the center of the box, and cover them with clear plastic packing tape. That way the label will not become smeared, defaced, nor easily peeled off.

One of the best deals in shipping inside the US is Priority Mail - if it fits in the box, it's a certain fixed price (I've always wanted to pack some Lead ingots and see if I can ship 230 pounds for $5.95).

There's also the question what to do when you're shipping outside the US? Well, again the concept is De Minimis Non Curat Lex: the law does not concern itself with trifles. I really don't think anyone cares deep down if a bottle or two of beer goes to another country.

However to avoid problems here's what I do. I will usually include some small gifts, like Yankee candles or something else, maybe Patriots T-shirt or other memorabilia (did you know they won the Super Bowl 2015?).  You should put on the customs form "gift." Describe it as whatever the item is, plus "olive oil." That way if the beer is wrapped in bubble wrap at the bottom of the box, if Customs at the receiving country opens it, they probably won't even inspect the bottle. That way your beer can even get to Taiwan intact.

Again, possibly against the law in some countries, but so is cutting the heads off of people; so legislators, pick your priorities.

And why is wine so easy to ship?

Gandhi-Bot Solution

For those that don't know it, there was a lawsuit or threatened lawsuit about the beer "Gandhi-Bot" from New England Brewing. 

While it is true Gandhi did not drink beer later life, it is believed did not adopt temperance and vegetarianism until he went to England to study. He also married a 14-year-old, so go figure.

Anyway - perfect solution is here - I present Guitar-Bot.

Vegas on 6 Beers a Day

*Average

When planning a trip to the CES in Las Vegas, or in fact planning any trips, if you are you beer fan it always pays to plan ahead. You review things like Untapped, BeerMapping and Beer Advocate (among others). You also check Google maps to see what is out there for breweries brewpubs and good beer bars near where you'll be staying.

Had a lovely arrival with only one of two engines operating, but that story is actually old news now. Monday (1/5/'15) at the CES was Press Day at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. This is a rather frenetic exercise, for every hour there are two concurrent sessions chock-full of news, and I had to report on them.

Right around noon was lunchtime, so I ran out quickly to the Burger Bar in the Mandalay Place shopping area. They allegedly had a pretty good beer selection and good food.

I could definitely vouch for the food; the burger was wonderful, rare (no qualms about that), juicy, with a good toppings and condiments. What I did not expect to see was a New Zealand

Moa   Imperial Stout   Ale, Stout Imperial   (10.2%)   [8.5]

I've had Moa in New Zealand but not this one. I was again pleasantly surprised (as it's my favorite style) as they had a 

Dogfish Head   Immort Ale 2013   Ale, Barleywine   (11.0%)   [8.5]

Once the press conferences were over I figured, hey, why not go back there for dinner; it's close to my hotel, I know the food is good, and the beer selection is very good.

As it turns out it was happy hour so there were some great appetizers for a real sweet price. Started out with a very light

Firestone Walker   PIVO Pils   Lager, Pilsner   [8.0]

As they also have vintage beers available, also tried 

Anchor   Special Ale Merry Christmas Happy New Year 2012   Herb & Spice   [7.0]

Then a change-up with a wheaty

Deschutes   Chainbreaker White IPA   Ale, IPA, White   [9.0]

Thankfully I realize just before I ordered another beer, it was time to for the bartender bring out the "big guns." I have been keeping track of my beers for many, many years; starting with a database on the Apple Newton, and transferring the same data through various phones (Palm, WM) to a FileMaker database on the iPhone.

And yes, I even now note the Schaumhaftvermoegen value.

As the next beer was number 5,700, it had to be something slutty special (at least that's what SIRI thought, I just wanted it to be special). And that's 5,700 different beers. And that something special was a

Firestone Walker   Sucaba (or §ucaba)   Ale, Barleywine   (13.5%)   [10.0]  (#5,700)

This barleywine was not aggressive boozy, just a bit, with a peachy aroma and an absolutely wonderful finish. As this was not a $1.99 special, the manager Scott came over to see who had ordered it, and why.

We chatted a bit and I offered a sample to him and any bartenders who wanted it. Note this is proper beer tasting etiquette, if you choose to, when you order a special beer bottle. Just be sure it is acceptable to the folks running the place.

And using a SensorDrone, the near-perfect serving temperature of 14 C was noted!

Next day at lunch, I just grabbed a quick sandwich as I brought my own beer with me. At a small convenience store I had picked up a bottle of

Moab   Black Imperial IPA Desert Select   Ale, IPA, Imperial, Black   [8.5]

It's a surprising find, especially for just a convenience store, but this is Vegas after all.

That evening took a quick ride up to Banger Brewer, and had a pleasant evening with Cory, Mark, and Nick, and a few others.

These folks offer free tours so just use the Web form and arrange one if you want to. Due to slight miscommunication, I missed the start of the tour but was able be given a brief tour later from Nick.

Tried flights of the following, with some great Middle-Eastern food form a nearby restaurant:

Hop Bang Boom   Ale, IPA   (6.8%)    [7.0] 

Liquid Courage   Kölsch   (6.10%)    [8.5] 

Van Damme   Ale, Belgian Blonde   (7.3%)    [9.0] 

Rebellion Red   Ale, Irish, Red   (5.10%)    [7.0] 

El Heffe Jalapeño Wheat   Ale, Wheat, American, Spiced   (5.1%)    [9.0]

Perfect Ten   Ale, Pale, American   (5.4%)    [7.0] 

DTB   Ale, Brown   (5.2%)    [7.0] 

Knight "Rye" Der   Ale, Stout, Imperial   (7.8%)    [8.5] 

Black Eye Pa   Ale, IPA, Black   (8.5%)    [9.0] 

Dry County   Ale, Belgian Quadrupel   (11.2%)    [9.0] 

Belgian County - barrel aged    Ale, Belgian Quadrupel   (12.0%)    [9.5]

And a note to any Brewpubs or beer bars; offering flights are so appreciated by people who like to try different beers. I know it's not always possible to offer flights if you're very busy. But if you don't have them, please get them. Zythologists (woops almost typed "Xythologists") like me appreciate flights or tastings greatly.

I also suggested that a beer could be named "...I hardly knew her" as in "Banger (bang her)... I hardly knew her" which I actually first heard in Bangor, Maine sometime late last millennium. Apparently this was the first time some had heard this horrible joke, and then comments were made, such as "let's use this name for a 'blond' ale!"

Now I usually travel with a special beer or three, in case somebody I meet wants to trade, or to just pay forward good beer Karma. I had brought a couple of Spencer Abby ales with me, the first Trappist brewery in America. The lads at Banger were almost salivating at the prospect of opening it, after letting it rest a couple hours (I hope you did let it rest).

Also picked up one of the best growlers I've seen is a long time. It looks good miniature keg, and fortunately the state I live in allows growlers from any brewery to be filled at any other brewery.

I did ask if Banger would ever brew a barleywine. They did not have any plans (and none available) but I was told a brand-new brewpub had opened, which had a barleywine on tap.

A short walk, about a mile or so, and I was there - Main and Charleston. And as the sign was not up, the directions of "look for a coffee shop and a small neon 'open' sign" was very well advised. Here I found Hop Nuts brewpub. And also here's a lesson for you, dear readers.

It really is nice and all that was Googling, beer mapping etc. all the places you can find about beer on the Web. However as this place only opened January 1, there was no way on God's green earth you would find this, unless you either a) know the area or b) talk to people. And that's my point; it is nice to use social media like Untappd, or Twitter, or Facebook. But let's not forget that "social" existed long, long before "social media" did.

The Hop Nuts brewmaster/owner Kevin seemed surprised I would walk this far for a beer, and I replied chuckling you don't know me that well. The barleywine on tap was a

Joseph James   Blood Moon Barleywine   (9.6%)   [8.5]

Which was rich without tasting too boozy. 

After a sip or two of water, I did try their very own

Hop Nuts Golden Ale   Ale, Golden   [7.5]

which was very fresh and quite good, with some distinct maltiness. Spoke to several other people including a fellow Untappd user, who astonished me with his total beers (note I have not listed all mine on Untappd, and I make a distinction between bottle, tap, cask, etc., which Untappd sadly, does not).

Parenthetically I should add that if you don't know this, there can be small to enormous differences between same beer in a bottle, or  tap, or a gravity fed cask, or at the brewery, to name some of the storage/serving variants.

The next day had a pleasant surprise at the Freescale Semiconductor trailer. They were showing their "Internet of Things" (IOT) which included a "smart" keg scale; when near empty it contacts the distributor! I also prefer my own name for the Internet of Things; I call it Internet Devices Interconnected, of Things, or IDIOT.

For lunch, took the monorail from the Convention Center and walked to Barley's Casino & Brewing.

They offer tours if you just call the owner, but sadly I did not have time. Tried their

Chocolate Stout   Ale, Stout   [6.5] 

Imperial Nut Brown Ale   Ale, Nut Brown, Imperial   (8.0%)    [7.5]

Also had a very nice steak and eggs for lunch. And of course this being Vegas, the meal appeared within about four minutes, because if you were gambling, they don't we don't waste time waiting for food!

That evening I had several options; there are two places I wanted to go such as Aces and Ales which seems to have a pretty good reputation, but I did not make it there. I went to Holsteins Shakes and Buns.

Holsteins was interesting because they do offer milk shakes with alcohol, which is just fine for those that like that. However they have an extremely good beer selection; on tap, in bottles, and the special "unlisted" bottle list. As they had - shockingly - Poperings Hommelbier Belgian IPA on tap (a personal favorite) I started with a small glass of that.

Here's something to try if you know your beers, and want to strike up conversations. At least four people that evening next to me at the bar wanted something, they wanted "maybe an IPA of some kind." In every case I suggested try Hommelbeir, a sample or a glass, and if you don't like the glass I will pay for it. Not surprisingly, I had to shell out no cash. In fact, several people thought I was a rep for the brewery or distributor!

The cicerone Toshi came over and chatted a bit, suggesting what would be something good to try on the list. Now this sometimes happens so it's not super critical, but two of the more obscure beers on the list were not in stock.

Eventually settled on (which could be my new favorite beer name, instead of Mine is Bigger Than Yours from Toøl / de Proef):

Mikkeller   Beer Geek Brunch Weasel   Ale, Stout, Oatmeal, Imperial   (10.9%)   [8.5]

Followed this up with 

Brew Dog   Hardcore IPA   Ale, IPA, Imperial   (9.2%)   [8.0]

Also while eating a really nice hamburger, had a few tastings of 

Tahoe Mountain   Hop Song IPA   Ale, IPA      [7.0] 

Tenaya Creek   Hop Ride   Ale, IPA, American      [7.0] 

Left Coast   Hop Juice Double IPA   Ale, IPA, Double   (9.7%)    [9.5]

The next late afternoon was one of those kismet sort of things, because when I was in Vegas, my nephew was also in Vegas with some buddies, before his second deployment to Afghanistan. As they were staying close to Holsteins, I suggest that we just meet there once CES closed at 4:00 PM. Only he made it, as his friend was a little "under the weather."

We started with the requisite Poperinge Hommelbeir, which he was not very familiar with, but thought was extremely good. I made a comment like "you haven't seen anything yet" because were going to try some beers that you probably have never had the style of what they are; but I can just about guarantee you will like them.

After deliberation with Toshi, and choosing from a dizzying array of choices...

...we settled on a Reueuze (rye gueuze).

Bruery   Rueuze   Ale, Belgian Gueuze   [9.0]

"Wow," was the comment from my nephew "I didn't know beer could taste like that."

Checked with the manager Ryan to be sure the staff could in fact have a wee taste - they could, and they did.

Also surprised Toshi with a bottle of Spencer Abby as well.

When the burgers arrived ended up having these with a

Left Coast   Ale Epéteios   Ale, Stout, Imperial    (9.5%)   [9.5] 

Which were a perfect pairing with the beef.

It was an early evening, as my nephew's friends wanted to meet about 7:30 PM for some more drinking and exploring, and I had a very early plane the next morning.

Next afternoon, stopped in briefly at the Jet Rock Bar Grille at the Philly airport. Had a taste of the following with lunch:

DuClaw   Sweet Baby Jesus Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter   Ale, Porter, American   [7.0] 

Great Lakes    Blackout Stout    Ale, Stout, Russian Imperial   (9.0%)    [8.0] 

Great Lakes    Nosferatu Imperial Red   Ale, IPA, Imperial, Red   (8.0%    [8.5]

And remember, what happens in Vegas, remains in Vegas
Except the beer yeasts. They "colonize" you for about 5 days.