TNSC Stretched Thin

Stop the madness! I am only one man, okay, maybe a man and a quarter, or maybe just a quarter. Whatever you may think, it has been crazy around here on Thursday nights. With all the locals lining up events on that night, I'm going to have to start asking for gas money from each stop soon. Last week looked liked I was on my way for another 3peat until my favorite road stepped in to slow down my dreams.

422 should just be blown up and replace with a high speed rail. But I guess I will leave one lane of it for beer trucks. It has become the cluster fuck of roads. Thursday afternoon was another example of how we are all screwed if we ever have any KIND of emergency and have to vacate the area in, oh, say a week or two. After sitting in another famous traffic jam, I finally gave up the ghost of ever getting to UJ's and seeing Nicky the J from Troegs do his thing. So I got off the road to hell and on to the back roads, which also moved about as fast as the speed of light from a broken bulb. I finally made it over to The Northside an hour and 45 minutes later from the out skirts of West Chester. To say I needed a beer or four would be a crime against human decency. Mr. Stockertown, (other folks call him Bernie) was there for a Bear Republic night and promised me a dinner and a beer. Who I am to refuse? Especially when Racer 5 is on the hand pump. I lub, lub, lub this beer on the hand pump. I get it every time I see it. I also had a couple other of the BR offerings including my new fav Nor-Cal, but the one that stood out was the latest, Black Mamba. This is one interesting beer. I only got the chance to gaze over the info sheet, but I am wondering if it is their experimental beer from the website. I would love to tel you all about it, but I currently ain't drinking it and I got CRS.

So after the fun was over there it was back to my home away from home, Ye Olde Craft Ale House where we soon engaged in some Devil Dancing and garlic popcorn. I can't make that kind of stuff up. So I thought I had a decent night, but look at this nonsense coming this week. I know I can't make many after shelling out $325 on my car. (smiley face!) But maybe you can.

7/15 Craft Ale House-- Founders Breakfast and Canadian Breakfast Stout on tap starting at 11 am.
7/15 Drafting Room--Sly Fox Hop Project with a firkin of the beer me and Steve made famous.
7/16 Union Jacks--Left Hand Brewing night.
7/16 Northside--Xmas in July with 3 years of Mad Elf and your host Nicky the J.
7/18 TJ'S--Michigan Breweries Throw down.

Does the word yikes mean anything?

What Do You Get?

If two beer bloggers named Brian walked into a bar, what do they get? A Woody! Hey, I'll be here all week at the Kepler Mountain Resort and Casino.

It was just another in a long line of fine events at TJ'S on the 13th, as it was billed as a beer battle between Ballast Point and Bear Republic. Mr. Stockertown Beverage himself, Bernie was there to help sway the votes toward the BR side of things.( Vote for me and you drink for free) Of course Mr. Chandler was there signing copies of his latest work.

But getting there proved to be quite a challenge as the heavens and hell dropped a ark like amount of rain on the way down. I think the covered wagons may have made it to California quicker than our ride on parts of 422. But once inside, the fine TJ'S staff was ready for bear, I mean ballast, I mean, what the hell do I mean? There were the familiar folks you see at most events and there was an extra good reason for that as Allagash Confluence was also on tap to take away some of the hop goodness of the two contestants. Dang, that was sum good stuff.

So, what beers did I think were worthy? Racer 5 on the hanpump has moved right smartly in my top ten or so of cask beer. It is that good. Racer 10 is a little too much on the boozy side. Ballast Points Big Eye and Sculpin weren't hurting my feelings too much. But Allagash stole my heart and my taste buds and a another sliver of my liver. I was surprised just how good that was on tap. Bottle was pretty damn good too.

We called it an early night (hello early night) and grabbed a couple of zebras and got on the ark and sailed on home. Till the next beer battle...........