Week of 5/20

Traveled up to Seattle this week.  When in Seattle and near the airport, I like to hit up La Estacion.  It's a great little Taqueria.  I enjoy the guayava dulce (guava candy) and then I hit the huarache, and I hit it hard.  It is a corn cake / tortilla bed, beans, I chose carnitas, lettuce, cheese, SC, etc.  So tasty but massive.  I could only eat half. Their red and green salsa are also delish and muy caliente!

While in Yakima, we hit the local Safeway for some "groceries".  I was so excited to find these bombers.  I have had Irish Death before.  Good stuff.  The High Five Hefe is made with ginger and honey.  Yes, please.  The Stumptown Tart is brewed with marionberries, strawberries and raspberries.  The Rogue Mom is a hefe brewed with rose petals. 

The Bevmo tasting tonight was not too exciting.  I liked the Julian Cherry Bomb the most (tart cherries).  We also tried the original Julian Cider, Pyramids summer seasonal, Curve Ball (a blond) also good, Mendocinos summer seasonal, Bock, Speckled Hen and Verloren from Sam Adams. 

Week of 5/12

We hit up Manhattan Beach Brewing Company. They have a great beer selection for most people. Unfortunately I had a hard time finding something. Ended up with a Karl Strauss Red Trolley. We shared a pretzel. Meh. I had the Mediterranean chicken skewers appetizer as my dinner. It was tasty; cous cous chicken veggies, olives, pita and tzaziki.

Afterwards we hit up a local ice cream shoppe. I heard fabulous things about their maple bacon crunch ice cream. It was good! I also had some salted caramel. That was also very good.

5/15 hit up Freedoms Edge Brewing Company in Cheyenne, WY. Tried the Tivoli House Ale, Stormy Weather wheat, Wrangler Red and Midnight Ride Stout. I like the red so far.

  5/17 - headed to Hops and Pie, one of my favorite places in Denver.  I wasn't as familiar / keen on
their draft list this time.  It rotates so sometimes that happens.  The cute server recommended the Smoke Jumper.  I do enjoy a smoky beer.  It was amazing!

 My friend and I shared the caesar salad and each had a piece of their daily pie.  This one had pulled pork, jalapenos and pineapple.  It was really good.

After Hops and Pie, we headed to a nearby bottle shop where I bought the last bottle of Smoke Jumper...

 ...

Some Shiner summer seasonal made with red grapefruit juice and ginger, yum and...

 

some Alaskan Birch Bock made with birch syrup.  It was tasty but definitely had a high alcohol taste.

Then off to a new stop for us, Denver Beer Company.  I saw it in a Beer Advocate magazine.  I had to try it out when I saw Kaffir Lime Wheat.  We tried 5.  I loved the kaffir and the Misseur Flaeveur? which had a ton of basil in it.  Great place!

5/18 - tasting at Bevmo!  The Honey Basil was very good!  Magic Hat is tasty as well.  I enjoyed the Tempestuous Ale from Lightning in San Diego too.

Florida

We headed over to the Mansion, a renovated restaurant near old town Melbourne. They have 60ish beers on tap, which is unheard of in my hometown. I was happy To find Tangerine Wheat, from Lost Coast, I believe. Yummy. I rarely see this on draft. I suggested a Kona Brewing Koko Brown (coconutty) for my friend. She didn't appreciate it because it still tastes like beer. Ha. So, I has to finish it. Sigh. Kidding. I love that stuff. My friend suggested the chicken tortilla salad. It was tasty.

Saturday - a gift from my friend Sage, a Cigar City Brewing Maduro Brown from Tampa. Not bad. I love unfiltered beers.

Tuesday we hit a local Cuban Restaurant. El Ambia Cubano. I enjoyed the tostones, yucca and mass de puerco fritas.

Baltimore

Started off with a delicious Chimay and a mushroom Swiss burger. Both very tasty.

Next up I had to wet my whistle with a lovely dirty, beefeater martini. Glorious!

Golden Road Brewery

Headed up to Golden Road Brewery on Sunday.  I tried the hefe (left).  It wasn't awesome.  I ordered the pulled pork sandwich.  It was also "okay".  It seemed kinda small compared to other places.  We also shared some croissant bread pudding.  It was tasty but ridiculously tiny.  I was hoping they had the Valentin beer made with blood oranges.  They did not have it.  Overall, it was okay.  There are better places around here.