Desert Island Poll

If you were marooned on a desert island with a magical cooler of beer that you could only put one brand in, what would it be?

Mine would be Mirror Pond Pale Ale. Just don't think I could take the hops day in an day out every day from an IPA, and after all, it's hot on a desert island. I would want something that is refreshing and goes well with coconut and mahi.

How about you?

Le Fleurette ~~!!~~!!~~!!~~!!~~!!~~!!~~!!~~!!~~!!

are you f-Queen kidding me? crazy belgian style, relatively low alcohol nectar, made with fresh flowers and herbs from Italy. Once in a lifetime, nary to ever be produced again, nor in the same fashion, if attempted.

vinnie, natalie, random dude from Italy with a knack for deception at the u.s. turnstiles, I tip my hat to all three of yee!

double growled at the rr brewpub yesterday, and promise to keep one of them in my air raid shelter for end of days.

new love

Avery IPA. Have had it in bottles at City Beer often, and it's good, but had never had it on draft, until last night. Hoppy, big ale.

In the spirit of old beer slogans, I will try to include one with each post. In honor of Avery, I summon an old Schlitz slogan from the 70's: "Go for the Gusto!"

In fact, they are bringing back their old slogans and history on the web: http://www.schlitzgusto.com/history.asp

...not that I'm suggesting that you drink that bilge water....

words can never satisfy thirst...

...and it is my hope that the words here in this blog can inspire you to satisfy your thirsts with something tasty, local, and fresh. Regardless of where "local" is for you, there are great ales and beers being produced all over the world that are accessible.

My home base is San Francisco, so I am lucky. The Old Lucky Lager Brewing Company of San Francisco had it down, with their 1950's slogan: "It's Lucky when you live in California!" Of course, they did this for every other Western State where they were distributed, but I use this slogan to illustrate how lucky I am to live in NoCal, where there are endless hoppy ales for me to sip.

Here are a few of my favorites (most local, all locally distributed), IPA Category:

Russian River Pliny the Elder
Russian River Pliny the Younger (double IPA)
21st Amendment IPA
Russian River Blind Pig IPA
Pizza Port Wipeout IPA
Pizza Port Hop-15 IPA
Moonlight
Racer V (Bear Republic)
Bridgeport IPA (OR)
Liberty Ale (Anchor--yes kids, this is an IPA--check the IBU's!)
Racer X (Double IPA)
Big Daddy IPA
Hop Otten IPA (Boonville, CA)
Alaskan IPA (tough to find)
Lagunitas IPA (everywhere--my standard in most bars with limited selection if none of the above are available--have done a great job as a little brewery with branding and distribution--kudos Petaluma crew!)

This is all from memory, and I know I missed a bunch, so would love to hear your comments.

Cheers, Ken