Write what you know. Words of wisdom handed down by one of the many knowledgeable English teachers I had in college. And I plan to do that very thing right now.  

Some call me a beer snob, beer geek, beer connoisseur or aficionado. However unpleasantly or bourgeois (or unpleasantly bourgeois) you make it sound, I like beer and I know it well! What follows is the list of the best beers I’ve imbibed in the last year mind you. Not the beers released this year (I’m not that hardcore). I recommend you find these beers immediately, and indulge you inner beer geek-ness, you won’t be sorry. 

Best beer + drinking experience

1. BrewDog Tokyo- At 18% ABV and $8 per glass you really have to earn this beer. So I drank it after running a half marathon. This incredibly unique beer, added a nice needed numbness to my legs and body that was well appreciated after running. Considering the alcohol it is not too boozey, the booze is covered up by complex fruit, oak, and maybe herbs(?). It kicked my ass almost as much as the ½ marathon. 

2. Bitches Brew- I drank this with some great company on my birthday. My wife arranged a beer-luck (beer + a food paired to go with it potluck). I drank this with amazing brownies made with  Bitches Brew... beer-gasm! Chocolatey smooth beer with chocolatey spicy brownies = amazing!

3. Monks mistress Midnight Sun- I drank this delicious Belgian strong ale while with my in-laws looking out at a beautiful cloud covered lake a few miles outside of Seward, AK. I bought this and a few other  Midnight Sun beers to share with Steve Reed, who wanted to get to know some new types of beer. So we talked, watched the rain fall and drank delicious beer. Later we visited the Brewery in Anchorage and were impressed by other beers too. I thought we’d be stuck drinking Alaskan amber, and MGD for the 2 weeks we were in AK but low and behold Midnight Sun Brewing saved the day. Just check out their page on ratebeer, an amazing array of good and unique beers.

Best beer-  uniqueness

1. Stone Belgo RIS- Wow. I love Stone’s Russian Imperial stout to begin with but mix in some Belgian yeast and the resulting chocolate/ coffee/ fruity goodness was fantastic.  

2. Green Flash Grand Mantis- Merlot barrel aged Belgian with brett (sour yeast). This beer just overwhelmed me. Sour, fruity, a little bit of wood and wine smoothing it out = Amazing! Since I had this beer at a special Hamilton's night I doubt I’ll ever see it again.

3. Marin Old Dipsea Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine – Had this at Hamilton's and was amazed at the bourbon smell and flavor. I prefer my bourbon barrel aged beer to taste a lot like bourbon and this one did! At the same time the rich boozey vanilla of the barleywine balanced it out. I drank this too fast, but loved it.

Lists of 2010's bests

I've spent a lot of time in the last few weeks considering my top albums, films, beers, and books of the year. A friend of mine loves lists and encouraged me to do so. I've really enjoyed the process. I've found some great music, drank some insanely delicious beers, read some great and not so great literature (grad school), and watched altogether too much TV and movies. As I went through these lists, and poured over which I should pin the ribbon of "best of the year" onto, I realized that my focus has been in the wrong place this year.

For one, I am way too indecisive and found it nearly impossible to nail down a list of the best, just doing so makes me terrified that I might make a mistake (God forbid I leave out something out on a website that no one else reads). I have since changed my approach. Instead of fretting over which beer is better than another beer, I’ve decided to focus on using this time to savor what I have read, drank, watched, etc. And, if I’m lucky and someone does read this, I also hope that these lists leave him or her with some suggestions as to what to partake in next year, as well as give them a brief understanding of who I am and what I value.

So along with that, the second revelation I had while looking back at the year was that most of my bests didn't have to do with things that I consumed (though I still am going to put those up here since I spent so much damn time thinking about them). Most of the best moments of this year cannot be summed up in a list of beers that I drank or the music I listened to. These moments may include beer (most assuredly they do!) and music (again, undoubtedly!) but they are also interwoven in with faces, conversation, scenery, and other things that add meaning to them. So as I go about listing my bests of 2010 I intend to mix in a lot of memories, pictures, and lessons learned along the way, and I hope that as you finish up the year consider your best memories, creations, revelations, and challenges overcome. 

  Salud!

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Faded High by Gayngs (one of the best songs of the year)

Faded High by mjgonzales

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▶ Anaïs Mitchell w/ Justin Vernon - Wedding Song

via soundcloud.com

Folky melodic, sweet

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Half Marathon.

Before:

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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The End of History

Fitting name for this new beer by Brewdog. This 55% alcohol Belgian
ale (which is technically whiskey since it's been cold-distilled) is
packaged in the friendly taxidermied bodies of local Scottish wildlife
(think beer + action figure). I hope the intention of this beer is to
highlight the extreme lengths that brewers go to make their beers
standout (i.e. vortex bottles, and cold activated cans). If that was
the case then they have succeeded because the beer sold out in hours.

Surely, I love that more people are drinking good beers and less
mass-produced corn and rice drink (aka Coors, miller, and Bud), but
this seems to be a case of the pendulum swinging too far in the
opposite direction. At the same time there is something intriguing
about a squirrel with a beer coming out of it's mouth. Hooray beer!

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Party with the in laws only male in a room of females. Lord help me...

Today I decided to hang out with my inlaws in Escondido. I was the
only guy there. We read people magazine, talked about IUDs, discussed
the joys of pregnancy, and drank white zin. This has truly been an
amazing evening.

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First of the Hops

Hello little baby hop nubbins. In a few months you will be in a tasty IPA.

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Contradiction, or Life Imitating Art?

Don't get me wrong I appreciate this piece of art in the hood. I'm just wondering if the placement isn't a little ironic. Wheat pasted on the side of a very busy Urban Outfitters is a mural that, amongst other things, critiques the blind consumer mentality of the average American. Perhaps it is the artistic mastery of Mr. Fairey, a commentary on the people stuck within the of the Urban Outfitter mindset, except that the opposite is in fact happening. While I was admiring and taking pictures many of those who were admiring alongside me decided to browse the  sidewalk sale that Urban Outfitters was having. In essence the artwork condemning consumption is acting like the invisible hand of the market ushering people into vendor of overpriced unescessary goods. I can't imagine that this wasn't the intention of Shepard Fairey, but I'll bet it was a consideration of the owners of the business.

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