Blended Guinness Drinks for All!

Well, it has felt like forever, but the team is getting together tonight. I am not sure about the status of all the members. It seems like summer is in full swing and everyone is being pulled in a million directions.

There are beers to be drank in a million other place. It seems like my intake of Miller Lite has increased dramatically. I did manage to have a Half and Half the other night. This sweet combination of Guinness and and Harp should not be confused for Black and Tan.

I had forgotten how refreshing the drink could be. Now as you might have read, I love the Guinness. However, in the summer, I just can't have more than one or two. A wee bit on the heavy side. I have to say, the Harp just makes the Guinness so snappy. It is a lovely experience.

So here is what I am thinking, a trend will continue with the blended Guinness drinks. I am hoping to have a black and gold. That is a local twist on the blended tradition. It takes the same theory of part Guinness and adds Dortmunder Gold from Great Lakes Brewing Company. I am thinking it is going to be a combination to my liking.

I am just hoping the rain has gone away and we can sit outside and enjoy the great summer weather. I am hoping that when I say "It was pouring" everyone understands, I am talking about the beer.

Sierra Nevada Summer Time Sweetness

I happened to have an impromptu meeting with AneLyn on Sunday at the Winking Lizard. We happened to be meeting up on some top secret business we were doing.

First, it is important to note that she did add a beer to her world tour. She has also come up against the road block of the last dozen or so beers. There are beers that she has been avoiding throughout the tour - ones she has NO desire to drink. Well, the time has come. I suggested starting out with one or two really nasty ones at the start of each visit and just ending with her favorite beer - even if it is not on the tour.

Speaking of not on the tour, the beer of the month is Sierra Nevada's Summerfest. I had asked the waiter about the beer, and although he was very cute, he asked "Do you drink Miller Lite?" with a crappy little edge I didn't particularly like.

At any rate, I do drink Miller Lite. I also really like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (one of my first forays into pale ale). To be honest, my favorite beer style besides Guinness (see below) is India Pale Ale. I like the kickiness of it.

I had faith that the folks at Sierra Nevada Brewing would not let me down. Besides, you got a companion pilsner glass with the purchase. I decided to go for it. It was a great beer. It has the nice easy quality of a light beer, with kickiness of a pale ale. Sierra Nevada got it right. It was a Sunday afternoon in the sun beer if I ever had one.

The moral of this story, drink the Summerfest, and don't let cute waiters deter you.

SEE BELOW
Guinness - now I know you are thinking it is not a beer style because Guinness is a stout and that is beer style. Let all of us be honest. If you have ever been to Ireland and had a Guinness, you know that it is a category to itself.

You might be saying that you have had Guinness and the place that serves it takes a lot of pride and they serve a lot of Guinness. I am glad you are drinking the good stuff. However, anyone who has set foot in the Emerald Isle (even the British bit that is attached in the North) and put a pint of the black stuff to their lips can tell you.

Anything that rolls too far from St. James's Gate - well it is just an immigrant to that country - not a native.

Cornholooza 2007

So I managed to make it through Friday's Corn Hole extravaganza. It started with a session at the Winking Lizard. My beer selection was pretty uneventful with a Stella Artois draft. Of course, it was a solid choice - definitely a good one to enjoy in the sunshine.

Now, I am not a good corn hole player. I am not one of the three Stooges either, but I never seem to be able to win. I just lose my focus. Maybe it is me, but I think maintaining a deep focus on putting a bag of corn into a round hole in a piece of wood is a little over the edge. Then again, those folks with the brooms in curling seems to be able to take themselves seriously.

I usually would launch into a discussion about the similarities between these two sports, but the crucible version is there is beer and boredom involved in the evolution of both.

At any rate, I had some moments of glory at AneLyn's house. I started to catch my groove a bit. It doesn't really matter though because the Cruise Director, Hollow Leg and AneLyn are butt kickers. As well as being trash talkers. The other factor was the Cheerleader's husband. Let's just call him Bill.

Bill is a good corn holer. He was very skeptical of the game at first, but became entranced by it hidden complexity and trash talking allure. That is the thing about corn hole - you might not be good, but if you can talk some trash and get a couple of bags down. Life is good.

As we wrapped up at AneLyn's we headed over to Hollow Leg's for the second leg - pun intended - of our tourney. At this point, the crowd began to swell with the local Corn Holios coming to play. Instead of playing a tourney, as we had the last time, we played game by game free for all.

Now, it might seem very unlike me, but I switched onto water. Why? My birthday was at midnight and I didn't want to wave it in passed out on Hollow Leg's back lawn. Don't worry, I managed to catch up with the multiple rounds of celebration shots.

Summertime and the living is good. Cornholios pack of kids were running around the yard, the dog was merrily chasing the tennis ball, burger and chicken on the grill. It just felt and smelled like summer. No better way to wish you early 30's goodbye.