Thanks Gin and Dave!!!

What a weekend that was, and starting early no less.

Friday I went to the Drafting Room in Exton for Lunch which consisted of a pretty good Buffalo Chicken Wrap and an even better DIPA.  Actually it was Outta Focus DIPA from Appalachian Brewing Company.  I expected this to be a good beer but it was a very good beer.  After work on Friday I stopped in for a quick one at TJ's Restaurant and Drinkery in Paoli.  I had a Little Sumpin' Wild from Lagunitas.  I expected a sour beer made with wild yeast but that is apparently not the case.  This is in fact their version of a Belgian Strong Ale.  It was OK but I still think we should leave the Belgian style beers to the Belgians (and perhaps Ommegang).  Later Friday night thanks to the kindness of my sister Ginger and my brother-in-law Dave, I was able to enjoy a nice evening out with my wife sans children.  We went to Marly's Restaurant / BYO in Phoenixville.  I had a nice lamb dish and a great bottle of Kosta Browne Pinot Noir.  It was a 2006 Russian River Valley and quite possibly the best wine I have ever tasted.  We liked that so much that we opened another bottle of wine for the sake of comparison.  This one was was another 2006 Pinot Noir.  It was a Kanzler Sonoma Coast.  It too was excellent.  As we found out on the way in to Phoenixville the whole downtown section was closed to traffic for a festival complete with German bands and other music.  After dinner we rambled around town and ended up it Iron Hill.  I had an unremarkable Belgian Pale Ale (see above about Americans attempting to make a Belgian-style ale).  Of course it may be because of the excellent wine we had earlier.  Perhaps this was an unfair comparison, although I don't think so.

On Saturday I went to the Craft Ale House in Limerick for lunch/dinner.  I had their excellent short rib sandwich and a Mad Hatter IPA from New Holland Brewing Company.  This was much better than expected.  It was not extreme but a very nice IPA.  I followed that with a Big A IPA from Smuttynose Brewing Company.  This too was a pleasant surprise.  A very good DIPA indeed.  I ended with a Breakfast Stout from Founder's Brewing Company.  As I have said before, this is the stout against which all others are measured.  It is awesome.  Just when I was ready to call it a day my other sister Jean called and said she was going to the Sly Fox in Phoenixville for dinner.  I stopped in there and had a Royal Weisse and a Grisette.  Both were very good as they always are. 

On Sunday I cut the lawn and did some yardwork and basically dried out for the week ahead.