Lagunitas: Little Sumpin’ Wild Ale Review

I was walking through Wegmans a couple of days ago and of course I was cruising the craft beer section. I have been wanting to find something to review that was a little different. Lucky for me I stumbled upon Lagunitas’ Little Sumpin’ Wild Ale. I instantly loved the label artwork, anytime I run across a good vintage pin up I’m sold. So I quickly scooped up a bottle and rushed home to try it.

So here we go:

Very nice label, at least I think so.

It poured a beautiful golden color with red highlights. The head was a thick bed of tiny bubbles that stayed throughout the beer. As I let it sit, it still had some effervescence bubbling from the bottom.

From the name and the description on the bottle, I was expecting something really different. There was a whole little story on the bottle about them using the “Westmalle Yeast Strain”, so I was expecting to smell some interesting esters from the yeast. Instead,I smelled a whole lot of hops. Ok I thought,it is just really hopped up. So then I took a taste, and I tasted a typical IPA. I was very disappointed, I thought I had found something new, something exciting and all I got was a disguised IPA.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a very good IPA. It had a ton of of hop aroma and enough bitterness to carry it. So if IPAs are your thing,it is definitely worth picking up and drinking. I just feel like I was duped. Well, they obviously pay their marketing department well, because they sucked me right in with a beautiful label and a great story. If they had labeled it as an IPA,I would have passed right over it. I don’t mind IPAs but they are definitely not my beer.

So there you have it,it is a good beer, but definitely unexpected. So until my next trip to Wegmans, keep ‘em tippin’!

Man, sometimes you just need a beer…

I know I haven’t posted in awhile and believe me it hasn’t been due to the lack of drinking beer, its just been a crazy couple of weeks since New Year’s. I won’t bore you with all the details of the leaks and repairs that have been done. It just has been super hectic and one thing after another.

So right now I am finally catching up on some downtime. A Bird is in bed and hopefully falling asleep soon, L Bird is on the treadmill in the bedroom and I am sitting here with a great, icy cold homebrewed porter contemplating life. I know I normally post about new beers and their reviews or the good times the Goof Troop has, but tonight I wanted to take a time out and talk about one of beer’s other great features: Stress Reliever.

It seems like I can have an awful day, week or month for that matter, but the minute I get some down time and a cold beer in my hand everything seems better. There is just something about sitting quietly with a beer and letting your worries roll away as you enjoy the malt and hops of that beer in your hand. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you should try to drink your problems away and drown your sorrows. That type of drinking just leads to more problems. What I mean is that beer has always been associated with my quiet time, I enjoy pouring a nice beer and sitting down on the deck in the summer or by the fire in the winter and just letting my thoughts wander. Its just sitting back, tasting and appreciating what you have in your hands and being grateful for the simple things in life. A warm dry place to sit, a cold beer and nothing but your thoughts. Hell, maybe its not the beer that helps with the stress, maybe it’s just the quiet time to sit and contemplate life. What the hell am I saying, that quiet time is good, but the beer makes it great lol.

Well, it’s definitely been a rough patch for a bit, so I’m going to put down the laptop, return to my porter and just enjoy my silent moments for awhile.

Wabi Sabi – Look it up

New Year’s Eve/Eating Around The World

So here is the follow up to my previous post about the games we play on New Year’s Eve. I will just hit the highlights or else this post will be a mile long. However, I will post an album at the end of this post for those of you who would like to see all the pictures.

Let’s get to it,

L Bird opening the Roasted Eel for Dinker.  Look at the apprehension on his face.

A close up of the eel.

The Cpt. pulling his eel (I’m pretty sure he pulled his eel a lot that night, lol)

The Cpt. trying not to puke.

L Bird’s turn at the eel. MMMMMMM, she looks happy.

The Spotted Dick: the name is the worst thing about this one, its bread pudding with raisins.

The Marmite being prepared for Satan. It looks mouth wateringly thick.

She loves it, just look at that face.

I can’t remember what Allison ate, but just look at the fear in Dinker and Satan’s eyes that she is going to puke. She does look a little less than impressed.

Dinker taking the Vegemite like a champ.

The Pulpo (a.k.a. octopus in olive oil)

Up close and personal

Me trying to force it to my mouth.

I think its still moving, lol

Its actually not that bad, it was one of the better things to eat that night. It’s just really really chewy.

There are so many other pictures that I would be here all day, so I’ll break it off here and you can take a look at the album below. If you have questions or comments, feel free to post them and I’ll try my best to describe what was happening or what it tasted like, etc.

		New Year's Eve 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL