Daily Archives: August 15, 2010

Stumblingpiper’s Top 50 Places to Drink Beer

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Ok, these are in the order I can remember them.  The key for this list is: 1) I can remember where the place was and can get back there, 2) it’s a place that you can get to to drink beer, 3) it will be a place that, no matter if you’ve been once or dozens of times, you will want to go back when the opportunity presents itself.  I will adjust this list as I remember places …

  1. My House … currently in Springfield, VA
  2. Great American Beer Festival, Denver, CO
  3. Aventinus Festival … Schneider Weisse Brewery, Kelheim, Germany
  4. Hahnen Fest … Queidersbach, Germany
  5. Savor Fest … Washington, DC
  6. Delerium Cafe … Brussels, Belgium
  7. Fruhlings Fest … Bad Cannstadt, Germany
  8. Cellar Bar … Breuberg Schloss, Germany (during B.A.G Summer School)
  9. An Spailpin Fanach … across from the Beamish Brewery, Cork, Ireland
  10. Beer Tent. Glengarry Highland games … Maxville, Ontario
  11. Beer Tent. Fruita Fat Tire Festival … Fruita, CO
  12. Firkin Rendevous (Bristol Brewery) … Colorado Springs, CO
  13. Cafe Trappisten … Westmalle, Belgium
  14. The Auberge de Poteaupre … near Chimay, Belgium
  15. Abbaye de Notre-Dame d’Orval … Orval, Belgium
  16. In de Vrede … Westvleteren, Belgium
  17. Jack Quinn Irish Pub … Colorado Springs, CO
  18. Campus Pub … Simon Fraser University … Vancouver, British Columbia
  19. Spinnacker’s Brew Pub … Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
  20. Rock Bottom Brewery … Bellevue, Washington
  21. Naturfreunde Haus … Volklingen, Germany
  22. Irseer Klosterbrauerei … Irsee, Germany
  23. Bier Garten on top of the Staffelberg … Bad Staffelstein, Germany
  24. Bier Garten behind Vierzehnheiligen Church … Vierzehnheiligen, Germany
  25. Raglan Road Irish Pub, Downtown Disney … Orlando, Florida
  26. Jack of the Wood Irish Pub … Asheville, NC
  27. Purple Fiddle .. Thomas, WV
  28. Westville Pub … Asheville, NC
  29. McGillin’s Old Ale House … Philadelphia, PA
  30. The Golden Bee … Colorado Springs, CO
  31. Durty Nelly’s … San Antonio, TX
  32. The Perch Bar … Orient Beach, St Martin
  33. Sloppy Joe’s Bar … Key West, FL
  34. Bull & Whistle Bar … Key West, FL
  35. The Hotel Bar … Georgetown, Ascension Island
  36. Bräustüberl Weihenstephan … Friesing, Germany
  37. Hofbrauhaus … Munich, Germany
  38. RiRa’s Irish Pub … Arlington, VA
  39. Clark’s Alehouse … Syracuse, NY
  40. Old Triangle Irish Alehouse … Halifax, Nova Scotia
  41. St Georgen Braustuberl … Buttenheim, Germany
  42. Peel Pub … Montreal, Quebec
  43. The Noble Savage … Shreveport, LA
  44. Trinity Brewery … Colorado Springs, CO
  45. Galaxy Hut … Arlington, VA
  46. Coconuts on the Beach … Cocoa Beach, FL
  47. Meg O’Malleys … Melbourne, FL
  48. Biergarten in front of Burg Nanstein … Landstuhl, Germany
  49. Dogfish Head Ale House … Fairfax, VA
  50. O’Brien’s Pub … San Diego, CA

Catching up … finishing out 250 beers

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Sorry for the hiatus on the blog update.  You may have noticed the one I just posted on top places to drink beer.  This is to complete my 180 beers in 180 days effort.  I decided to extend it to 250 beers in 250 days.  If you have been following the blog, you will note that I stopped at 243.  However, I did finish out to 250.  Here are the last 7 beers (for your viewing edification)!

244. (4 Jul 10) Orion Draft Beer – We had this at our local sushi place.  We stopped here for lunch on the 4th.  Nice to have a Japanese beer on our National Holiday! Ha.  It wasn’t very good … but it quenched my thirst!

245. (5 Jul 10) Rolling Rock – Two mediocre beer days in a row.  I can’t remember now why I had to have this beer on this day … I think it was the best available selection. Sad. I know.

246. (6 Jul 10) Chatoe Rogue – Ok, now, here we go!  The beers are getting better again.  This one was simply a treat–I always like to see the efforts brewers make in using the freshest hops — this beer is a solid drinker.

247. (7 Jul 10) Heavy Seas Mutiny Fleet Rye Porter.  This beer, too, was a very nice drinker. Two dark beers in a row, two nice beers in a row (you can see my early season hops drying in the container).  I really liked this beer … no real style but excellent none-the-less.

248. (8 Jul 10) James’ Imperial Walker IPA.  No rating on this baby!  I made this imperial IPA (post coming soon) out of my own hops.  9.1% ABV — can’t really tell what the profile is.  But it is good if I do say so myself! LOL!

249. (9 Jul 10) 21st Amendment IPA.  These can beers just strike me as strange.  I picked up several cans for our Tubing of the Shenandoah expedition on 17 July.  Of course, I couldn’ t wait.  I’m glad I didn’t.  This is a very nice IPA.

250. (10 Jul 10) Gubna Imperial IPA.  Yep.  Couldn’t wait again.  Had another can of beer.  But I thought it would be a good idea to finish out my 25o straight beers with an Imperial IPA.  This one worked out great.  Nice balance, good finish.  Worth the effort to find and drink!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

All About Beer Top 125 Places to Drink Beer

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On May 1st, 2008, All About Beer published their list of the Top 125 Places to Drink Beer.  They recently updated this list by publishing the 150 Great Bars list.  Most people would consider both of these lists controversial because … well … because that’s what lists do — start controversies … especially on a topic as subjective as the best places to drink beer.  I’ve taken two different approaches to this list.  First, I’m building my own list of the “Top 50 Places I’ve Drank Beer.”  I will be posting that list soon.  Secondly, I’m working down the original All About Beer List because, that too, is what I do.  If I see a list, I see that list as a challenge!  I will caveat my work on this list by stating that I think it is valid to substitute a venue when it’s about a location/event (e.g., drinking on the Green Monster at Fenway.  I will substitute Camden Yards).  So, without further ado, here is my status on this list so far!

Goal: To have 25/125 by the end of this year.  Current Status 17/125 places.

1 (1). Great American Beer Fest.  I admit–this is the best place to drink beer in the world.

2 (2). Grand Place.  Not really number two on my list–but nice!

5 (3). Oktoberfest.  Been there, done that.

7 (4). Abbaye de Notre-Dame d’Orval.  My favorite beer of all time.  The location is awesome!

11 (5). Hofbrauhaus.  Excellent — but not my favorite Beer Haus in Germany.

16 (6). Seats behind Homeplate at Camden Yards.  Wow!  The only way I like to watch baseball.  (Oh, I also was at the Brewers Stadium when Bonds was chasing the record.  And I have to say the Ballpark at Arlington is also wonderful…)  Funny, I don’t really like baseball.  But they have a nice selection of Craft Beer in the Orioles stadium.

19 (7). The Beer Tent at the Glengarry Highland Games … Maxville, Ontario.  North American Bagpipe Championships.  Horses, schmorses.  Not really a horse race fan … so I picked another style competition! Even better if you’re celebrating a 2nd place with your band.

26 (8). French Quarter … I’m cheating on this one–I was there during St Paddy’s Day … not Mardi Gras–but still a wild party … as New Orleans usually is (but, to be honest, this really isn’t a beer drinking city …)

31 (9). Private Suite at the Redskins Stadium watching the Dallas Cowboys beat the ‘skins.

44 (10). Tailgating.  I know an SEC game tailgate party is something else, but if you never tailgated at an IFL Game (Frankfurt Galaxy) in Europe you missed out!

57 (11). Andechs Monastery.  Definitely a tourist destination, but worth the trip!

66 (12).  Delerium Cafe.  This place should be a lot higher on the list!

80 (13). Le Bier Circus.  It was a serious Circus!

82 (14). Irseer klosterbrauerei.  If you have the option, I’d pick this one over Andechs.

97 (15). Clark’s Ale House.  They aren’t kidding!  Their Roast Beef sandwiches are amazing!

103 (16).  Kelly’s Caribbean Bar.  Yeah, I can’t really remember this one! 🙂

121 (17). Old Ebbitt Grill.  Yep–this one is very nice … right across from the Treasury Building in DC.

I’ve got 8 left to go this year … planning on them being: 12 (18). Brickskeller (easy), 14. (19)  The Market Porter (maybe, hard), 15. (20) Cat’s Eye Pub (easy), 25. (21) World Beer Festival (medium), 30. (22) The Olde Mitre Tavern (hard), 45. (23) Selin’s Grove Brewing (medium),  71. (24) Brewer’s Art (easy), 76. (25) City Tavern (medium), 91. (26) Dogfish Head Ale House (medium), 114. (27) The Dubliner (easy).

We’ll see how these go!  It’s all in the effort, isn’t it?

Beer Mentor