Nothing Interesting Here

It was kind of a boring Friday night.  First stop was TJ's Restaurant and Drinkery in Paoli.  I ordered a Honey Rye from Lake Placid Pub and Brewery.  It was not an unpleasant beer but also not what I was looking for.  This was one of those beers you could enjoy after mowing the lawn.  I wanted something bigger and bolder so I ordered a Russian Imperial Stout from (are you ready for this?) Bierbrouwerij Grand-Café Emelisse.  This is apparently a brewpub in the Netherlands.  The chalkboard listed a price of $7.25 or $7.50 something like that.  I can't remember but it doesn't matter because it was a kegkicker special which means I got it for $3.00.  This was a very nice beer but I would never pay full price for one.  For $3.00 it was a bargain. 

I didn't see anything else on the chalkboard that was interesting and that I didn't have recently.  So I headed for the Flying Pig in Malvern.  I ran into the same problem here.  Nothing interesting on tap that I haven't had recently.  I tasted a Derailed Black Cherry Ale from Erie Brewing Company but this was too sweet for my taste.  I ordered a Piraat Ale because you don't see this on tap every day.  It was good as usual.  Anything from Belgium is going to be good, right?.  The 10.5% alcohol doesn't hurt either. At least not on the night that you are drinking it.  This is actually brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V.  I'm not sure why it is called a Belgian IPA but what do I know?

I had to get home and pour a Saison DuPott's.  Ahh...that's so good.

Beer Is Hard Work

Lately I started drinking more bottled beer primarily because I was too lazy to run out and buy a keg or two to replaced the ones I kicked.  Last night I had a bottle of Railbender from  Erie Brewing Company .  That was the last straw.  I have been to Erie Brewing Company and I have enjoyed many of their beers but this one left me wanting.  I need a hoppy potent draught ale and I was determined to get one.

Tonight I took 2 of my daughters to Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown.  On the way out I picked up a sixtel of Hop Wallop.  Sounds great, right?  Then I got home and spent about an hour cleaning my taps and preparing for my new arrival (Hop Wallop).  During the process I started to wonder if it was worth the trouble.  Of course, maybe I was just inefficient at cleaning the taps.  Maybe I should be able to do it in 15 minutes, I don't know.  Regardless, I started questioning the whole thing.  The money spent on the sixtel, the travel to pick up the sixtel, the cleaning supplies, the electricity to run the kegerator, the investment I have in the kegerator etc.  Then I poured a Hop Wallop and took a long cool sip.  Yeah, it is worth it.