Beer in Syracuse

Up in Syr for the girlfriend's brother's HS graduation. In addition to hanging out with Christine's fam, this meant free dinners (thanks Carol!), and the ability to buy beer in units smaller than a case. Yeah, because in PA, unless you're buying beer to-go from a bar at ridiculous prices, you can only buy beer from a beer store in 24 or 30 packs. Further proof to my theory that beer laws are never written by people that actually drink beer.

On our first night in town we hit the newly re-opened Empire Brewing Co. We were informed at the door they couldn't sell us beer since they didn't have a liquor license, but we were welcome to free samples. Have I ever mentioned I like free beer? We also hit up the Party Source on Erie for some single bottles. The grumpy old man that runs the place was there as usually. I like to call him "Grumpy McGee" in my head. Seriously, the guy is surrounded by great beer but acts like the bluebird of unhappiness crapped on his face.

Now up to 575 reviews:
Fuller's London Pride: A lovely, complex English pale ale. Might be a little weird for some, there's almost a meaty aroma, but I liked it.

Empire Amber Ale - Not actually very amber. It fairly light and the grains taste biscuit-like, but that's not a bad thing.

Empire Black Magic Stout - A nice big stout, though not as big as Middle Ages' Black Heart Stout.

Yes, that's right, Matt Allyn is in Allentown. You're so funny.

The hiatus is over now that I'm basically settled in Allentown, PA. Last Wednesday I started my internship at Men's Health after three days of driving and moving from MN to Syr to PA. Yeah, it was that fun. Here's a crappy sunset shot from somewhere in western NY.



There really isn't much to say about PA so far other than I'm loving Rodale (Men's Health's parent company). I get great editorial work for an intern and the perks are great. For instance, yesterday I had an extended lunch break to play full-court basketball with editors. Can't beat that.

I'll also mention I had a great time at my grad party. The beer list had about 10 options with something for everyone. We had yard game fun and then built a fire. And who doesn't like fire? Below is Ben and Jacob. As far as I can tell, Jacob's doing a Bob Dylan impression.



As for beer, I'll just say there's been a lot of good stuff. I had several beers from BeerAdvocate's Top 100 and while they were good I didn't think any deserved such high stature. The main culprit of overrating was the the Trappist-monk brew Rochefort 10. It was smooth and tasty, but I couldn't get much flavor out of it. Meh.

The best beer of late is the local hefeweizen from Bethlehem Brew Works. If you're curious, here's the link for everything else I've reviewed lately.

It's Wednesday

It's Wednesday and that means I start my internship at Men's Health in a week. On one hand I'm really excited for the job. On the other hand, work is going to be a lot harder than staying up to watch CSI, followed by Star Trek Voyager, followed by more CSI (best 3 hours of late night TV?).

I've also started a new batch of articles for Draft Magazine, though only about four small ones this time. That's A-ok with me as I'm about to start 40-50 years of work and don't want to get swamped right away.

In random news Ben, the new opinions Ed. for Jerk Magazine, got an email from CollegeHumor.com asking if they could use my "I despise musical theater" article I wrote last semester. I don't think it quite matched up to my "I love death metal" article, but whatever, they can use it. If I ever see it posted I'll put up a link.

Moretti Birra La Rossa - Maybe the best Italian beer that's somewhat readily available. It's just a dark German doppelbock with nice caramel and fruit tones.

Sprecher Black Bavarian - Not your average German Schwarzbier, the flavors were deliciously rich with cocoa and light roasted coffee. One of the best dessert beers I've had in a while.

Full Sail Ltd 02 - A small batch amber lager. Mostly a nice caramel malt flavor that made is a good companion for summer grilling.

Herkimer Gose - Minneapolis's German brewpub, Herkimer, made this very rare style of wheat ale. It's tart like lemon juice, but also a little sweet and spicy. Yum.

Dad's Little Helper - One of two craft-brewed malt liquors. Worth trying for the novelty, but just tastes like a strong pale Euro lager. Nothing special in the flavor dept.

Granite City Northern Light - Light, but not bland. There's a mellow, lightly-toasty barley flavor.

Capital Brewery Special Pilsner - A good version of a true Euro pilsner, but it's a touch on the sweet side. Still a great, lighter beer.

The Weekend of the Summer

I think that says it all for the weekend at Ben's cabin. And Christine is right, the beard needs to go. Here's a couple more gems anyways:


Dwight anchoring for Team Luigi again Team Bojangles in the Tri-Tippy Cup Team Tournament.


Late-night Scategories. That's Mike in the background puking in his shoe.


No idea, just Dan doing what he does best.