Weekend Roundup (Pre-National Craft Beer Week)

What a badass beer weekend it's been, starting Friday afternoon...

Stopped by my favorite brewery, 3 Floyds, for some lunch and awesome beer. As usual, I had the pizza, tasty as always. Along with the great food, I ordered a Zombie Dust, which unfortunately they had run out of at the time I was there, so I settled for a 3 Kings. While eating, I was able to meet Barnaby, Vice President of FFF and one hell of a cool guy. After two pints of 3K, a half pint of Arctic Panzer Wolf and most of a pepperoni pizza, it was time to order the "to go" brew and be on my way. Unfortunately for my good friend AV, I must have had one of the last few 3 Kings, because he was unable to get the growler he was hoping for. This, of course, was after the disappointment of not being able to grab a couple growlers of Zombie Dust. Instead, we decided to grab a few bombers of their one-time special brew "Evil Power," an Imperial Pilsner. All in all, another great visit to 3 Floyds. The only downside... Zombie Dust was back on tap just an hour after I left, as was Blackheart and others.

Saturday afternoon was set aside for a few pints at my favorite local pub, Fiddler's Hearth. Every week they have something special on tap, which happened to be one of my other favorite brewery's, Sierra Nevada. From S.N., they had the new Ovila Abbey Dubbel, a specialty one-time only beer on tap, along with the Estate Homegrown Ale and other great beer. I'm not an expert on Belgian style beers, however I did enjoy the dubbel very much. Fortunately I have a bottle in my fridge, and am looking forward to giving it a review. The Estate Homegrown (pictured to the right), is wet-hopped and uses Sierra Nevada's homegrown barley. This was a delicious, well balanced brew with nice lacing that marked each sip from the glass. I also happen to have the alcohol tolerance of an entire beer pong championship team. 

While enjoying a few pints at Fiddler's, I had the opportunity to talk beer with a really cool local fellow beer geek, Andrew. Not only did I have a good time conversing with him, but he also brought me beer! In advance of a trade we are going to make, he gave me a bottle of Hop Czar from Brideport Brewing Company in Oregon, and a Lagunitas IPA. All in all, another good time a Fid's.

Since the kids were away for the weekend, I decided to pickup some special brew for Saturday night with my wife. I stopped at my go-to bottle shop, Citywide downtown, for some Founders Old Curmudgeon Ale. Not only was I hooked up with this year's Curmudgeon, we did some hunting through the cooler for a vertical of it, 2008-2011. My wife and I had a great time sharing each year, starting with the 2011 and going backward, noting the difference in taste. We found the freshness of the 2011 was very good, but also enjoyed the 2009 with it's more mellow malt profile and alcohol.

What am I drinking today? While working around the house, I've managed to share and enjoy a Bare Hands Belgian Golden Strong, the Lagunitas IPA that Andrew gave me, a Rogue Mocha Porter, the bomber of 3 Floyds Evil Power and I reviewed (which I'll share at a later date) the Bridgeport Hop Czar. Don't worry ladies and gentlemen, this was over 9 hours with plenty of water and breaks in between.

Overall, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend. I was able to try a lot of really great beer, catch up on some sleep and watch the Cubs win, then lose, then get postponed.