Halloween Black Beer Things

Went into an ale house to get some beer,
the publican says, " we serve no red coats here".
Went to the Blue Nile on Halloween Eve on Friday, to taste Al's wonderful selection of stouts and porters. I was not disappointed. I dressed as a doctor and put on a troll mask. When I arrived I passed out candy bars to the patrons and no one recognized me till I demasked. Great fun and I received a a pint of Great Northern Porter for my effort. James, Brent, Doug, Colleen (later), Katherine (later), Thom, Andrew and Dan (his friend)were there. It was a good night. After the Blue Nile, K and I went to james & Marthas for a Halloween party where we met Eddie and Eileen. It was a splendid evening.

Here is the list for the beers at the Blue Nile. I was able to try some of all of these beers. They are listed in order of their ratings from the Center of Porter and Stout, Mpls. Chapter. [Three stars *** indicates the best beer, two ** indicate great but with some reservations, and one star * okay.

Sinebrychoff Porter ***+, Darkness 2009 ***+, Bells Expedition Stout ***+, Lion Stout***, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout*** (This is a sipping beer).

Flat Earth Black Helicopter**, Summit Great Northern Porter**, Nogne-O Porter **, Surly Darkness 2008 ** (Sweet), Surly Bender**, Troubador Obscura**, Bell's Rye Stout**, Founder's Breakfast Stout**

Tyranena The Deil Made Me Do It *, Southern Tier Oat, Imperial Oatmeal Stout*.

These are great beers and it was ery sad that I became sick this weekend on Saturday and couln't get back there to try a few more sips of my favorites.

More things Fall

It has been awhile since my last post. I am spending far too much time on watching the election polls and all the superfluous news articles related and sort of related. I want the election over with and done and Obama as president.

On a lighter note, I played bagpipes at the Darkness release at Surly and had loads of fun. Nic, my son designed the labels, t-shirt, poster for the Darkness this year.Josh Krage and I piped up and down the waiting line and at the gate. Just before the gate opened I played Darth Vader's March. We played some more tunes and then I drank just a bit too much. I need to stop that and rein in my consumption on that. The smoked Baltic porter was amazingly delicious and big. The oak-aged Bender was very delicious as well. Way too much fun for an old guy. In the evening, we had some friends over to try some of the West Coast beers. Brent, Karen, Doug, Phil, and Tina. We drank some very good ones Roots oragnic IPA Woody, Laurelwood organic IPA Green Elephant, Peak organic Pale Ale (not very good, very bland tasting), Ninkasi Double Believer Red Ale, Pelican Brewery Doryman's Dark Ale (my favorite), Fitger's Black Eye lager (not West Coast but very tasty), Lost Abbey Judgment Day (Belgian style quaddruple, cloyingly sweet, should have been laid down for at least a year), Lost Abbey ? Belgian style saison, very good tasting, delicious but big, and Surly Furious ( this beer is not nearly so hoppy in the can as it is on draft. This weekend at the Blue Nile will be Dark Ale Days featuring a host of dark beers. I will be getting a ride to and from this event. I have been lobbying my comrades as to sharing these big dark beers so we can try several of them. I hope it works. I do want to hang out with Katje after.

The garden is ready to put away for the winter. I was able to score some lavender from the grounds people, very kind of them. Now I have to protect them and bed them down well for the long winter. I will be digging up the parsley and oregano and bring it inside so we can have some fresh herbs. Lots to do yet before the snow flies. The election is six days away. I can't wait.