Bellringer Red

I got off work at 11:30 and went directly to the bar. I got there before my friend and ordered a Bellringer Red while I waited. When he arrived, we talked about writing and boxing, innevitably Hemingway. I biked home. Holy shit. Eight percent? McMennimans does it again.

Dragon's Breath

The library is a beautiful place. Where else can you go with the sole purpose of passing time surrounded by knowledge?* There are rows, aisles, floors dedicated to the transference of information from the minds of others directly into mine. I just go inside, wander around for a while, pulling books off the shelves and flipping through them. Usually, I gravitate towards the oversize photography section and see some waterfalls, and paintings and portraits and then i'll find whatever comic book somebody left lying around and look at those for a while, too. Then I'll go and read a couple newspapers and a couple magazines, take some notes, y'know and then head downstairs after making another swing around the shelves. On the ground floor is the library collection of music and film, a quite extensive collection. In perusal, today, just before I took exit, I found a live Miles Davis concert film from 1970. I checked it out and went across the street.** I was thirsty.

Across the street is a small grocery, and for a grocery that size, in the location it inhabits, for this town, the beer selection is ridiculously small. However small the beer section may be, what it lacks in quantity is sufficently balanced by the quality of available delicado. Dragon's Breath, is one of these delicacies.

Brewed and bottled in Missoula, Montana by Bayern Brewery, this beer is indeed a magical beast. Technically, Dragon's Breath is a Dark Heff Ale, three words that each seperately hold great meaning but that together as one phrase, conjure the epitome of strength, flavor and rejuvination. Dark, strong, 6% ABV forged with the sweet, citrus wheat, and bound by the crisp bite, the pale, ale energy, a fire grew in the belly.

And the fire was quenched.

I drank the Dragon's Breath as I watched that Miles Davis concert and when it was done I stood, and took a piss and then I came to write it down. It was perfect.

Beermigos rating: Debate-the-meaning-of-life-with-beermigos-brew

Truly exqusite. Only a night of hot, dragon, firebreating with my beermigos could top this.

*Sam Bond's Bingo

**guess how much it cost? Freeeeeeee

Maui Brewing Coconut Porter

As the weather is turning from fall to winter, so does my taste for beer. I find that nothing goes better with the season of falling leaves than a nice amber to match the color of the foliage outside. Yet, now that we're in November, it's getting a little bit colder out, and many trees are bare, I find myself focusing my attention on the darker and hearty brews of porters and stouts. Interestingly, while I enjoy these porters more in colder weather, this particular one comes from a place where it is rarely below 70 (in Fahrenheit that is).

Maui Brewing company is a favorite of mine, all of their beers coming in very cool designed cans are great for BBQ's (see their blond lager, and big swell IPA), and if I ever get the privilege to go down the Colorado river again, these will be the beers I take.

Alright, enough of my personal digression, and on to the beer. This porter is quite dark in looks, with very minimal breaks in it's black color. Sweet in smell, and a standard coffee taste at first with a subtle, sweet taste of roasted coconut at the end. The blend with the roasted malt and coconut is fantastic, making me believe that I could really drink this beer regardless of the weather outside as the coconut flavor lightens the brew up. My only gripe would be that the light brown head didn't last long enough for me. But I like a bit of froth on top more than your average beermigo.

Beermigos Rating: Burger and a brew beer. Fairly high in abv (5.7%), but I would imagine that a nice cheeseburger with a pineapple ring would buddy up with this beer like PB and J.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Oh dear Beermigos, I know, I know, the recent updates have been severely lacking. But I do have a decent excuse in the fact that I was in Europe. Other than Germany, and Guinness, there isn't much good beer in the Old World. I will not complain however, because the trip was fantastic and while I was missing beer, I would willing sacrifice Northwest beer for another go 'round in that region.

Any-who, my first beer back in the US was a familiar one that I had not drank in a long time. Naturally, this fine brew was consumed at the amazing establishment, Sam Bonds Car Garage, on another Monday Night Bingo. Pat was there to enjoy a beer with me, and we discussed our two different European experiences, and how I had missed Northwest-ish beer. Sierra Nevada is made in Northern California (geography!), but still has that hoppy, bitter, Northwest taste. It was fantastic to have a familiar beer, at a familiar event, with a familiar Beermigo. For those of you who may not sampled this beverage, it's a pretty typical pale ale. Copper in color, off white head, a spring floral scent, and a pleasant bitter finish.

Hot damn how I missed Northwest(ish) beer.

Beermigos rating: Beer with the Girlfriend/Boyfriend's parents at dinner. Solid taste, decent amount of alcohol, reasonably priced. Can't ask for too much more.

Dynamo Copper Lager

So there is this bar in Chicago in the Avondale neighborhood called Kuma's Corner. I was having an exploratory day and had heard of this bar because of their burgers and their whiskey on tap (yes, on tap). It was hot and I had been walking around a lot. Earlier I had eaten a fine meal from one of my new favorite restaurants, Hot Doug's: The Sausage Superstore (no joke). I was full from the greasefest and thirsty but not parched from the heat. I needed a good brew as a comfort blanket to the hot dog and fries. Nothing too thick but I wanted something with some flavor. When I saw the title of this beer "copper lager" it seemed like an interesting combination so I gave it a go.

Well first off it's a lager but with a solid copper color rather than a bold yellow color. My goodness this was refreshing. It was partially the situation but also just the smooth finish. It was smooth like a lager but I felt that this had a more bold flavor than most lagers. It was very hoppy but it had a nice balance of malts in the aftertaste. There was a very nice hint of spice in the taste that the malty finish cancelled out. It was very interesting because this was a very full-bodied beer but it was not too filling. Usually a beer with a bold taste can be a one and done but this didn't fill me up too much at all. The brew finished great! I refreshed myself with a shot of spicy Buffalo Trace whiskey (on tap) and headed out the door on my way home. All in all a good day of exploration.

Beermigos Rating - The Burger and a Brew Rating: This was a tough call between this rating and an In-Laws beer. I chose this because I know that this beer would go fantastic with a burger. At 5.6% ABV it's not a thumper but it's still plenty. Frankly I've been thinking about this beer since I drank it and if I saw this as a deal with a burger it would be too good to pass up. This flaovor would hold it's own not only against a burger but with a lot of different foods. It complimented my hot dog well. But really this beer could be drunk at anytime, that's how much I loved it.

Stella Artois

The second review from Ireland is a much different beer from the first. This time around the beer is quite a light lager from Belgium that was quite refreshing. After a hard day's work, nothing felt better than to feel the rare Ireland sun beam down on to my body, while laying on tires, drinking this beer, and listening to about four different languages. We currently have some frenchmen, two spaniards, two germans, and two other eugenians!

The beer again was a nice lager, so while not heavy in taste, it was verry refreshing. A nice bite to it, but still very light. Crystal clear in color, almost a European version of our Coors, and Miller but better tasting.

Beermigos rating: Throwback brew. Average amount of alcohol content, 5 %, and very smooth. Almost screams at you to start barbequeing burgers.

Guinness in Ireland

A-hoy matees! I come to thee from a far away land, known for it's lush greenness and it's dark, dark beer. All right enough of this pirate bullshit, were there ever pirates in Ireland? Vikings maybe, but would...damnit enough of this digression. I've been working at a soon to be hostel in Wicklow, Ireland filling tires with dirt that will eventually be covered by cement. So far so good except for one small detail: the nearest beer is 6 kilometers away. Damn it. Never the less, when a beermigo is in need of a brew, he will get one if it's the last thing he does before reaching Davey Jones' Locker (son of a bitch).

I walked the 6 km to the nearest semi-town with beer. My only option was to stop by a nice little pub and grab a couple of bottles to go. Playing to the friendly, openness stereotype of the Irish culture, I walked into the pub because it's door was wide open, yet there was no one inside. I called hello a couple of times, but no one came calling back. If I didn't have a conscious I could have easily hopped the bar, grabbed a handful of brews, and been on my jolly, deviant way. Instead I found the man who owned the bar working on a cement wall at the side of the house (is everyone in Ireland working on some sort of cement wall?). He walked me in, and got the attention of his 70ish year old mother who was glad to serve me.

Having worked 8 hours that day, a 12 km walk was a little rough, and about half way on my walk back I needed a pick me up. I some how managed to crack open one of my Guinness' with my coat zipper, and took healthy swigs as I strolled back to the hostel. I'm not sure if there is more of an authentic Irish experience of walking on an old country road (which are scary as shit, by the way), sipping a Guinness, and having nothing to listen to other than wind, and cows.

Beermigos Rating: Onesy Brew: We've all had Guinness before, but naturally this one was a little more special. It is true what they say, the Guinness here is better than in the states but I think it's just because it's a little fresher. You would think carbonation would eliminate that factor, but there's something about them here. That, and you don't want to drink more than one beer while walking on these roads, trust me.