The New Year

I really started out the new year right this time. For the first time ever, I saw the sunrise on new year's day. It was quite magnificent. I have tired to do this many times in the past on new year's day, but the weather was always horrific. I was expecting rain this year, but somehow rain postponed itself that day. Standing out on the apartment staircase alone, fighting cold and sleepiness from the previous night's dance-a-thon, I watched one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. I thought to myself, 2011 is going to be a great year.

1001 BEERS

My roomie got me this book called "1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die" book. I figure I've got 70 more years to live, hopefully and ideally, fingers crossed. I mean 100 years is not hard right? So technically if I taste 14-15 new beers a year I will live up to this book. Fantastic! This will be my ultimate beer bible now.

I apologize for the wine on top on the book. It's blasphemy!

Bad Cheese

Today I made a simple salad and decided to add blue cheese (hmm...blue cheese). I had this costco tub of blue cheese that's been sitting in my fridge for about, hmm, two months now. I thought since blue cheese is already rotten, it shouldn't spoil. But was I wrong. Before splattering it all over my salad, I made sure to taste it first. I did, and boy, was it disgusting! It tasted like donkey ass, not that I've ever tasted donkey ass before, but my imagination says so. I quickly spitted the remaining donkey ass taste and gave myself a dose of gin. Good old Hendrick's Gin made everything all better!

Music

Now that I'm finished with my Christmas Beer blogging, I am a bit bummed out that I have nothing to blog about. But wait, I guess I can blog about random things...like music!

I am vastly expanding my music library, and have recently added musics such as Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Matt and Kim, Vampire Weekend, Band of Horses, and the likes (mainly indie bands). I was recently introduced to this band called Tennis. I caught a few songs on the net, and they were kinda nice, but I wasn't wowed at the time. On this morning's drive to work, I heard this amazing piece of music on KCRW (Morning becomes Eclectic is my favorite program on the radio) and so I Shazamed it. Lo and behold, they are Tennis. It's their newest single "Marathon". I love it, and it's a part of my collection now.

Merry Christmas! Beer #25

I've finally reached the end of my Christmas beer journey. Today's beer is not wrapped and is the ultimate beer I've been waiting for (because I chose it). I was initially lured by the packaging. While examining the bottle today, I discovered that it's a limited edition beer, designed by an American cartoonist Ron Regé Jr., it even comes with a mini comic book. I got even more excited. The bottle is reusable earthenware, which is fantastic! I can use it as a water bottle!

Although the journey seem to have ended when I drank my last Christmas drink, it's really not over yet. I've learned quite a bit about beer, but I think there's still a lot more to explore. The journey into beer discovery is just beginning for me. BevMo, I will conquer you once more!
________
Beer: Yeast Hoist / St. Sebastiaan Golden Ale
Brewery: Brouwerij Sterkens, Meer, Belguim
Vol: 7.6%
Taste: Exquisite taste, light ale with a hint of wheat. The first taste won me over, but subsequent tastes didn't hold up to the initial taste. It was good, but does not have the complexities I've had with other top rating beers of this month.
Rating: 4.5/5 (If packaging were involved in the overall rating, then this beer will deserve a 5/5)

X'mas Beer: Day 24

It is actually Christmas Day as I am posting my final beer blog before the ultimate Christmas beer finale. I am exhausted after two days of Christmas extravaganza. I came home late tonight having only the comfort of sleep on my mind. But for the love of beer, I decided to finish this one last wrapped drink before my special Christmas bottle tomorrow (actually today). To my surprise this last bottle is one amazing work!

Beer: Stone Levitation Ale
Brewery: Stone Brewery
Region: North County San Diego
Vol: 4.4%
Taste: Medium Body, Exquisite, Extreme Hoppiness, with a slight citrus taste.
Rating: 4.5/5

X'mas Beer: Day 23

Beer: Wyder's Hard Cider (Dry Raspberry)
Region: Middlebury, VT, USA
Brewery: Wyder's Cider Company
Vol: 4% (Wow, insanely low....now, who put this here??)
Note: First of all, this is not beer, this is cider. It's apples and oranges! But since it's in the rotation, I will rate it as one of the big boy beers.
Taste: It's very light with very little carbonation, extremely flat for a cider. I think it's too sweet for my taste. I feel that the raspberry is artificial. 5 years ago I would say I like this thing. But now, it's just not my thing.
Rating: Sorry, but this one is 1/5 (it's not beer!)

P.S. RAD photos huh? The second one looks ghostly. But I was just being lazy with the camera and using faint flash with very low lighting. Awful photo, but I like to call it "artistic".