I sat down to work on taxes around 9:30pm tonight. Now it's 11:30pm, I've only started to figure out what my tax liability is, and I'm already three bottles deep into a six-pack of Fat Tire. Oops.

Drinking before bed is bad, but drinking only a few beers before bed (so few that you remember falling asleep) is perhaps worse. However, there are several scenarios in which I think it makes sense:

• You have just completed some extremely long, frustrating, complicated, time-consuming, etc... task, and are simulatneously overcome with joy and dog tired.
• It's a weekend night.
• You are camping. This counts five times more if it's winter and snowing or below freezing and you have a spring bag and no tent.
• Its a 24 hour bike race, or any multi-day race really.
• It's your birthday either currently, or in a few hours.
• Your dog ate your bed.
• You've exausted all other prayers and dances for snow/surf.
• They had growlers of 2003 Stone IRS for sale that day.
• And I'm sure many, many more...

Good night!

I stopped by Regents pizza tonight on my way home and ordered a 22 oz bottle of Alesmith X. I set the bottle down, poured a glass and got about 2/3 of my glass filled with bubbles. I thought this was just a bad pour, so about 10 minutes later I poured another glass and low and behold, 2/3 bubbles again! Way, way over carbonated even for the style. Oh well, can't win them all I guess.

Last weekend my wife Jessica and I along with friends Ben and Liz made the short drive up to Solana Beach to eat lunch at Pizza Port. In the past five years that Jessica and I have worked (and often times lived) in separate states, I can't recall a single reunion in San Diego that did not include at least one trip to Pizza Port. One of the main reasons for this is the world class beer they serve on draft.

Last weekend we sampled a pitcher of a Scottish Ale, then another of Pale and Jessica (who hates and fears hops with a passion) sampled a glass of Belgian ale. All very tasty, all excellent complements to Jessica and my personal favorite pizza: cheese.

With over a decade of trips to Pizza Port (and some of the larger breweries around San Diego) I have to say that Pizza Port in Solana Beach has retained its goodness while many others lost their appeal.

Rock Bottom La Jolla is another staple, and is perhaps our most frequently visited brewery in all of San Diego. Despite being part of a multi-state chain of restaurants, the La Jolla brewery puts out some seriously awesome beer. If I recall correctly, the master brewer studied chemistry at UCSD, and managed to transform all of that knowledge into fantastic beer recipes, especially when it comes to special beers. Hands down, RBLJ consistently puts out some of the most drinkable and interesting specialty beers around.

So what is next? Alesmith!! I have only begun to sample what they have to offer, but so far the quality of their beers and the low-key relaxed atmosphere of their tasting room have me very keen.

Celebrating the end of September and the begining of winter with a nice and rich Rogue Imperial Russian Stout:

A few days ago, Jessica and I went back to the Beerhive Pub where we met up with Elyse to have a few drinks. The night got off to a rocky start when we sat down at the bar and the bar tender asked us for IDs. I had left my wallet at home and figured that a new bar in SLC would not want to take the chance on me. So, I crutched out, we drove home, picked up my wallet, drove back, and sat down again with proper identification.

I can't say that the greeting by the bartender was all that friendly. In fact, the first time that we sat down we waited for about five minutes before he came over and immediately asked for IDs. The second time we sat down he checked out IDs and then left and returned with menus. Given how slow things seemed to be I guess I expected a little more interaction. For example, the pub is only a few weeks old, so how about telling us a bit about it? Anyway, a minor detail.

First, we tried a North Coast Old Rasputin and Deschutes Obsidian Stout both great beers, although I prefer the Old Rasputin to the Obsidian due to its more complex flavor and much smoother finish. Old Rasputin is the kind of beer that is subtle in all the right ways. Compared to some of the other Imperial Russian Stouts (IRS) I have tasted, it is much smoother with a better finish and really nice complexity.

Next, I had a few different IPAs: Boulder Beer Co. Hazed & Infused, and a Full Sail IPA. The Hazed & Infused IPA had a really great aroma. It was so crisp and bursting with Cascade and Centennial hops. The taste on the other hand was too sweet for my liking in an IPA. The Full Sail IPA was better balanced, but lacked in aroma compared to the Hazed & Infused.

After the IPAs I switched over to Belgian style beers and finished the night off with a North Coast Brother Thelonious and a Chimay Red. I was really impressed with the color of the Bro.Thelo. It was a rich, deep red that would erupt out of the glass when held to the light. The Chimay was fantastic as always.

Overall, I would rate the pub average. They had several very nice beers that I have not found at any other pubs, but could probably get at the liquor store. However, it seemed that many of the beers listed on the menu were not actually available. I think this is by far the single most irritating experience at this kind of bar. This was reason #1 why I a got fed up with The Bayou. I was really hoping that things would be different at the Beerhive, but they were sadly the same. I don't want to blame the pub for this, because knowing our ridiculous beer laws in this state it could be due to limitations with the Dept. of Alcoholic Beverage Control. However, why not have a dynamic menu? Or even use one of the several flat screens to show a list a beers on the menu that have sold out. I know it sounds like a minor issue, but we had to try four times before we asked for a beer that they actually had. After a while it gets frustrating. It's not the lack of availability that gets me, but the fact that you have to pick two or three backups when you go to order a beer off the menu. The Bayou half solved this by having a separate seasonal menu with items that were of limited availability. Still, I think dynamic menus would be a better solution. Make it fun!

Besides the issue with availability, the Beerhive is a fine place to get a drink. We didn't try the food, but I'm typically not inclined to order food at pubs that serve items from a neighboring resturant. I'd rather just go to the restaurant to eat and then drink at the pub after. In the case of the Beerhive, the food comes from the Vienna Bistro which has been around for a long time, serves good food, and last I recall was on the expensive side.

In terms of cost, you certainly wont save any money going to the Beerhive, but that is par for the course regarding SLC boutique beer pubs. The only comparison I could make between the Bayou and the Beerhive was that the Bayou serves AVBC Deependers Porter for $7/22oz and at the Beerhive it was $9/22oz. It did seem that some of the other beers they served were less expensive that the Bayou, so I would say they are roughly equal.

The ice bar (a 4-inch-thick bar of ice that runs the length of the bar) is a nice feature, and actually useful for some beers. I tend to drink too fast to get much benefit from it, but it seems like it would keep a nearly full beer at a good temperature. As the glass gets closer to empty, the ice actually makes the beer too cold, so I would recommend removing your glass from the ice bar once it gets down to 1/3 full. I bet it is also really nice for mixed drinks.

When we first went to the Beerhive, I was hoping to find a better version of the Bayou that had more selection, better availability, and a shorter wait time. What we found was a pub similar to the Bayou without its own restaurant and an atmosphere more like an upscale bar than a pub. I'll for sure be coming back, but I don't see the Beerhive taking much business from the Bayou (unless they get Stone on draft in which case I will be there every night, seriously).

One thing that the Beerhive has going for it is a high demand for quality beer in SLC which has exceeded the capacity of the Bayou on the weekends. I'm sure much business will come to the Beerhive.

An article on the examiner.com reports recent results from a study of 1,700 women reported in the journal Nutrition (abstract). The study found that women who drank even a modest amount of beer (less than 12 oz per day) had stronger bones than non-drinkers. From the article:

Beer has high amounts of the mineral silicon which slows down the thinning process of the bones.  Silicon is found in the husk of the grain that is manufactured to create the beer.  Some researchers even believe a moderate intake of beer is better than consuming milk for calcium to prevent bone loss.  So sit back and enjoy a pint or two to ensure healthy bones!

Like so many other studies of this kind, the results are hard to interpret without knowing more about the 1,700 subjects. For example, it tells us that there is a correlation between these women's habits and bone thinning. However, it does not necessarily imply that beer is the key factor. Any other behavior that is correlated with beer drinking could also be a factor, perhaps even more important. For more information about this, check out the other related articles from google news.

Well, we learned an important lesson with this one. Brew early and often, and taste your beers well in advance of submitting them to the competition .

We followed none of these rules for the beehive brew off and suffered the consequences. Our barleywine actually tasted quite good, but had zero carbonation. Not surprisingly, we got judged a 26.5 out of 50 which was not as bad as I expected after tasting the beer myself. The judges were spot on though, and noted several key aspects of the beer that suffered due to the lack of carbonation.

As to why this batch failed to carbonate, I have no idea. This is the first time it has happened in all of my years of brewing. Luckily, all is not lost. When our keg of mead runs dry, we can just pour all of the barleywine bottles into the keg and carbonate with ease. Crisis averted.

Last week, we kegged a batch of mead that I made back in June. The mead was light, and ultra dry (as in less than 0.999 on the hydrometer). Over the last week it carbonated at 15 psi. It flows out of the tap with lots of bubbles, but the bubbles only last for a minute or so. Nothing like Champagne. However, the mead tasted carbonated for sure, and I think it added a balance to the mead which was missing before. Not to mention that it is seriously awesome to hop down the stairs and fill a pint glass full of mead from a keg.

I wouldn't do this with one of my typical sweet meads. The quantity of mead consumed from a keg is just way too high for a sweet mead. Not a soul would survive that one. Perhaps a mid-sweet mead would work, but it would still be borderline crazy.

I had never though of kegging mead until Jessica went to Redstone and told me that they sell kegs of their lighter meads. When I tasted my dry mead I could see that they were on to something. It makes a smooth refreshing drink which is pleasant enough and not too overpowering. 

Mead from a keg conjures up all sorts of crazy ideas like mead-stands which I can only imagine would be short and not so sweet, and perhaps lead to some excessive drunkenness. But they would be fun. What about drinking games with mead, sweeter than others?

I received mixed feedback about the sparkling mead. For some, the mead was just not strong enough to satisfy. For others, it was too strong for pint-sized portions. Most seemed to like the taste, but that is another matter.

I think I will try it again, but perhaps work on the flavor profile a bit. In the end, kegging is sooo much easier than filling bottles that I am always thinking of ways to keg rather than bottles when possible. In that case, sparkling mead it is

Just stumbled upon some info about a new pub in salt lake city: The Beerhive not much info is available just yet, but it is rummored to have Stone, Dogfish Head, Ninkasi and Deschutes which would be so awesome I can hardly stand it!