Beer Day

While I hadn't intended on doing so much beer stuff today, it just turned out that way. Not doing anything at work (last day is in fact Aug 15th), so I had plenty of time to drive around.

First Stop - Laurel Bottled Gas Co

Never been there before but I heard Chris from MDHB mention it before so I figured I would try filling my empty CO2 instead of exchanging for another. Is cost around $12.50, $13 something with tax for my 5 lb tank, which I think is better than roberts oxygen. One thing that occurred to me during this exchange was why that they name gas tanks by the pound. Essentially it describes the amount of gas by weight. When I originally heard these weights I didn't get it (yes I'm dense) because the tanks weigh roughly 6-8 lbs (the tar weight on my steel one is 7.6). But sure enough, I just measured mine and it now weighs 14.4 lbs.

Second Stop - Astor Liquors

Figured I would check this out since of was in the near vicinity. The selection here has kind of been stagnant since the new owners took over. I find that the token stuff they had before stays stocked, but new stuff never shows up. One thing I do find here is that the Cantillion prices are very good. Historically they have always been good at astor, so I hope they keep bringing more in. I took their last bottle, so it's hard to say what will happen. I only picked up two bottles here, Cantillion Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru and Weyerbacher 13.

Third Stop - Corridor Wine Wine

Was primarily going here to get wine for Dana but also ended up getting beer for her. I got a 6 of ST. Rogue Red Ale and Dogfish 60 min for her, and a 6 of Dales Pale ale and 750 of Saison Dupont. Corridor has some decent pricing of a few items which is why I like to go there. One example is the Dales Pale ale 6's, which are usually 7.99.

Fourth Stop - Frisco Grille

Frisco Friday was upon us, so I had to meet John there for lunch. Started off by helping Adam with the program I wrote for him. Going to tweak a few more things to make it easier to manage. My first beer was the Olivers Strong Man on cask. I have never had this before at olivers, so this was a good one to try. The beer had a surprising amount of flavor for a cask beer and definitely had a decent punch. I would recommend it if your not a cask beer drinking because it was very good beer. My second beer was Shipyard export ale. It was decent, but unfortunately I don't have much to say because the flavor of the strong man kind made it hard to guage much afterwards.

Fifth Stop - Perfect Pour

I really don't like going to this place because their prices can be high to very high, but no one can match their selection. Plus they always have the new releases which is nice. Not to mention that it's prolly bad to go with a friend (john) and after drinking because you tend to buy more then you normally would. I got a few things worth noting, Ommegang 3 Philosophers 2008 and St. Bernadus Triple in 750s, and a 22 of the Southern Tier Creme Brulee. The 3 Philosophers was interesting because this is the first time I have seen the 2008. I have been looking for it so I could have a decent vertical for my wedding week in October. I currently have 2006 cave aged, 2007 and now 2008. The St. Bernardus Tripel was interesting because I'm not sure I have seen 750s before. This is one of the better tripels and true to what I consider a tripel.

Sixth Stop - Maryland Homebrew Shop

Figured I would check out the yeast supply and check on the specifics of the grain I need to buy for next weekends brew. Picked up a couple vials of octoberfest yeast just to be sure they didn't ran out. Also got a nice large wine fermenting bucket to use for the mead. Now I just need to modify my recipe to match the grains they actually have.

Seventh Stop - BJs Wholesale

Mostly went here for household stuff, but ended up getting 9 lbs of blueberries for my mead. I wanted to make a blueberry one using the berries from my sisters, but we never had time to go and pick them. I saw that BJs had wild frozen blueberries so I grabbed these instead.

Acquired Beers