Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Home from Omaha

Sorry for the delay. I acquired a severe case of imgettingtoodamnoldforthisitis toward the end of last week.

So, Thursday: some old friends at Farnam House and at Scriptown.

Friday: more old friends at Site-1 and more yet at NBC.

I won't bore you with the details of the beers, because you can look them up on my beer list. I figure I managed to put about 38 new beers on the list, and I probably had a dozen more that were more recreational in nature.

Saturday, we drove from Omaha to Grand Island NE to visit my dad. Thunderhead at the Chicken Coop, with a quick trip to Wine, Beer, and Spirits to stock up on stuff we can't get at home. Stuff like 20-odd beers, five bottles of whiskey, and a couple bottles of gin.

Sunday morning, back on the road home. Almost exactly 500 miles. But we made it home in time to watch the Sharks lose again. And in time for temperatures about 50 degrees colder than Nebraska, plus a few inches of snow.

Thursday, February 17, 2022

More beer in Omaha

 Lots of good beers in Benson last night. Dinner at Benson Brewery with our great friends Mike and Kerry, whom we hadn't seen since we moved away. More good beers with them at Infusion Brewing, where we were joined by new friends Paul and Kennedy. More good beers at Bärchen Beer Garden, and more yet at Beercade.

Tonight, we're meeting more friends in Midtown!

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

The Rest of the Week in Omaha

Now that Paris and I have recovered from our overindulgent Sunday, we're ready to hit the local breweries, and everybody's invited to join us!

Tonight:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:

Monday, February 14, 2022

Omaha, Day 1

 I'm in Omaha this week, working in the ScoreVision offices. Paris and I drove down from Minnesota yesterday.

  • Lighthouse Pizza
  • Blatt Beer & Table
  • Zipline Taproom
  • Jerry's Bar
  • Bärchen
  • Krug Park
I'd call that a pretty good start to the trip.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Shopping -> Beer

 An afternoon of shopping in Elk River requires a late afternoon of beers at Aegir Brewing. They have a new West Coast IPA called The 10, and it's really bitter and yet very nicely balanced.



Friday, February 4, 2022

Lupulin Brewing, Big Lake MN

It's Friday, and we really needed to get out of the house for a while. Plan A was to head up to Beer Club Brewing, about 45 minutes away in Mora MN. We stopped by there a while back on the way home from the US Hockey Hall of Fame and had a great time. But as it happens, they're installing new brewing equipment this week, so their taproom is closed until next Friday.

Plan B: Three Twenty Brewing is only a bit further away in Pine City MN. We haven't been there yet. We planned on taking Moose along, and they're dog-friendly, but only on the patio. Since the temperature was barely above zero today, we decided to pass for now.

Ditto Plan C: Garphish Brewing in Bethel MN.

So we decided on Lupulin Brewing. It's in Big Lake MN and in the wrong direction, but we knew they have good beers and they allow dogs inside.

Moose patiently waiting for his beer

They had a bunch of beers this time that they didn't have last time we were here, which is always fun. A couple flights were in order.



Ten new beers, plus one for Moose. And they were all Real Good Beers, with four of the ten making the Beer Me! Hall of Fame and another just barely missing the cut.

The Dapper Donkey Triple IPA (11% abv) was remarkably clean for such a highly-hopped beer. Whole lotta hop flavor, but nowhere near as bitter as the flavor would have you believe.

Winter IPA (6.7% abv) is surprising because it's a "Wheat IPA". Hazy, sure, but clean, bready, and hoppy, without the slick mouthfeel that is so inexplicably popular anymore. This is what New England IPA wishes it tasted like.

The Wee Heavy (8.8% abv) is a spectacular brilliant garnet beauty. Thick and smooth with lots of caramel malt, but not overly sweet. Very nicely balanced.

Rylee's Amber Ale (6% abv) is a smoked ale. I love me some smoked beer, and this one does not disappoint. Rich smoked malt all the way through, and just enough sweetness for balance.

The Scottish Pub Ale (5% abv) is a fizzy-yet-smooth drinker. Lots of darkish caramel malt. Sweet but not too sweet. Maybe a hint of smoke, although I don't know if it actually contains smoked malt. Real good beer.

The best laid plans went astray yet again, but we had a bunch of good beers and Moose made some new friends. SUCCESS!

Some of Lupulin's brewhouse, as seen from the bar