Road Trip to Appalachia

BC4M , tired of only having 400 different beers awaiting tasting, decided a road trip for more beer was in order. This time, it was Jackie O's 6th anniversary...9+ hrs of driving time, each way, for a bottle release... no problem! Jackie O's is a small brewpub in a fairly rural area of south eastern Ohio, best known for Ohio University, coal miners, and professional partiers! Head Brewer Brad Clark is one of the most innovative brewers on the East Coast, producing multiple different sours and a whole variety of barrel-aged beers. Fred, Nestle, Bim and Florence loaded up the beermobile and headed west. First stop was Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton, VA. We were fairly harsh on this brewery in the past, and while we don't ever apologize for skewering a brewer for manufacturing swill, these guys are definitely improving. We sampled a flight of beers, including a few that we've had in the past. The consensus was that the Full Nelson (5.9%) was a better beer than we initially rated it, and their winter seasonal, Lights Out (7.0%) was very nice, both rating a really good, but the others, Blue Mountain Lager (5.3%), Kolsch 151(5.0%), Evil 8 (7.7%) and the Rockfish Wheat (5.4%) were no better than good at best. But the real reason we stopped here was for the Dark Hollow (10%), and it didn't disappoint. This barrel aged imperial porter was available on Nitro in the pub, and in bottles as well. While we generally have not jumped on the nitro train, we found that this beer on tap was better than the bottle version, and a gnat's ass away from being an RFG. Four hours of driving later, we were sufficiently inebriated enough to head into West Virginia and beyond. Now before any of you jackwads start giving me grief, I am joking... don't go all "Mr. Turner" on my ass.
After an uneventful ride through West Virginia, we rolled into Athens, checked into the hotel, and headed straight to Jackie O's. The pub was featuring almost 40 of their special beers on tap ( Cherry Wood Ya Honey, Bourbon Berry Grove, Chunga's Oud Bruin, Dark Apparition (nitro), Funky South Paw, Brown Recluse, Bolero Brown, Double Dry Hopped Matriarch, Dark Apparition (Kopi Lowak), Oil of Aphrodite (Kopi Lowak), Oil of Aphrodite (Cherry Chocolate), 1/2 Shark-Alligator - 1/2 Man, Matriarch, Mystic Mama, Raccoon Dubbel, Hocking Triple, Captain Barley Heart, Berliner Weisse, Great Googly Moogly (Nitro), Cab Cherry Man, Dark Apparition (Nuts), Cellar Cuvee #1, Cellar Cuvee #2, Cellar Cuvee #3, Cellar Cuvee #4, Cellar Cuvee #5, Cellar Cuvee #6, Dark Apparition (Rum Barrel), Slim Pickins, Firefly Amber Ale, Great Googly Moogly, Wood Ya Honey, Bourbon Barrel Middle of Nowhere, Matriarch (Nitro), Hop Ryot, Baklava Braggot, Scottish, 6th Anniversary Sour Blend, a few IPA's and pale ales among the group, but the lot was made up of mostly barrel aged beers. Almost every one of these beers was a winner, so see the Beer Bible for ratings. We've been to a few bottle releases, but this one was unique. Beginning at around midnight, a line began to form outside and at 2am the bar closed, further filling the line in front of the pub. Then, one by one we were given pages from a desk calender which designated our order for beer distribution in the morning. Off to bed at 3:43 am, only to return the next morning where we tasted a few more beers and waited for our number to be called. Knowing we had a 9 hr drive back, we worked our way to the front of the line, pleaded our case to Brad, collected our beers and began the long ride home, another uneventful trip through West Virginia. All in all, it was a great trip, but one we probably won't repeat for a while. Lets hope there's some RFG's in the group.

Postscript:  No road trip through rural Appalachia would be complete without a Ned Beaty clip, but after viewing it, I found myself in the corner, curled in the fetal position, sobbing like an infant. This movie, made in 1972, is still a sphincter tightening nightmare. Watch it if you want, but you've been warned! Best enjoyed with a Founders Backwoods Bastard!

Chocolate Rain

The event was a birthday party. Johnny Wilder's wife was turning 15, her quinceanera. To celebrate the day, the girls decided on a chocolate party. Some broad was hired to bring in all kinds of chocolate, and while she entertained the ladies in one room, the boys moved to another to celebrate life's biggest gifts: some special meat that Snake brought over and beer. About 15 minutes into the extravaganza, Bim showed up. The resident proctologist that he is, Bim crashed the all-female chocolate party and wowed the ladies with his unique perspective on the chocolate treats and how closely they resembled the characters in the Bristol Stool Chart, the subject on which he based his doctoral dissertation. Barely escaping with his nutsack intact, he was immediately banned to the male side of the party. With that, the tasting kicked off. It was a full tasting group, as interlopers from all across the east coast joined us this night. We started the night with Scuttlebutt Weizenbock (7.9%). This beer had a slightly boozy feel to it, and was a good start to the night, rating a good. Diamond Knot Ho!Ho! (8.5%) was more like Whoa Whoa! Don't buy this shit! It sucks! Stuff tasted like liquid sawdust and was the first pour out of the night. Lagunita's Cappucino Stout (9.26%) had a very robust coffee smell, but a light body, rating a good. Bavik Petrus Oude Bruin (5.5%) had a slightly sour taste, a hard as hell name to pronounce, but all in all was really good. Otter Creek's 20th Anniversary Ale  (12%) was sweet as fuck, which everyone loved, rating it a really good. It was about this time that Bim decided to entertain the group with his stories of youthful indescretion. He regalled us with his telling of how he used to urinate in the ball washers on public golf courses. Everyone laughed at Bim's loveable story, except for Wilders brother-in-law, Rory, a golf pro who specializes in schooling young ladies on the finer points of golf. Apparently young Rory had recently used such a ball washer, and was not so amused. Fred quickly eased the tension by cracking a previously reviewed beer, Cigar City's Marshal Zhukov. This stout is spectacular, and only gets better with age. Twisted Pine's Bigshot Expresso Stout (6.0%) was opened next. This thing tasted like a strong shot of coffee, but not much else, and rated a so/so. Brouwery De Dochter van de Korogaar Embrasse (9.0%), was a beer with a really long fucking name, but a pretty good taste. Bayerischer Bahnhof Brettanomyces Lambicus (3.0%) was tart, tangy, and while not enjoyed by all, still was a good by split decision. We next had a Founders Breakfast Stout extravaganza, comparing the Breakfast Stout, 2009 Kentucky Breakfast Stout, 2010 KBS, and the recently released Canadian Breakfast Stout (10.6%). The CBS was the only new beer, an instant RFG. The smoothness of the stout with the sweetness of the Canadian Whiskey was truly amazing. Worth the wait! Foothills 2010 Baltic Porter (9.0%) was a good follow-on, a really nice smooth porter, rating really good. Alaskan Brewing's Smoked Porter (6.5%) tasted like a cross between a campfire and a used bandaid, and was not very good at all, rating a so/so. Epic's Brainless on Cherries (10.3%) tasted like a Belgian farm ale up front, with a smooth cherry finish, rating a good. The Lost Abbey's Devotion (6.75%) was a very tasty beer. Smooth and refreshing, it was an easy really good. Last up was a special treat from our beer blogging, home brewing buddy out in California,  John Holzer. John was kind enough to give us one of his homebrews, a Habanero Saison (9.1%) that was easily one of the better beers of the night. This spicy bomb was just right, not too hot and damn smooth, rating a really good. The night was a good one. Lots of good beers, and some sweet chocolate and meat as well! We closed the night by having our dancin' fool, Johnny Wilder, lead the boys in a little all-male dance party, BC4M style!

Bim's Halloween Surprise

As the lazy days of summer fade into autumn, the weather turns a bit cooler and the nights grow longer and longer, yet the boys at the BC4M never cease in their endless drinking shenanigans. Thankfully the arrival of the "It's a tad bit nipply" weather has caused Snake to give up his habit of showing up to meetings in his "man hammock". This week we decided to do a Sunday meeting so we could watch some football while rating some beers. Halloween was the next night, so Bim decided to get in the spirit a little early by deciding to reveal to us one of his funniest halloween stories. It seems that a few years back, when our neighborhood was first being built, he was the lone purveyor of candy for the greedy little devils that come around begging for handouts. Bim, always looking for new and imaginative ways to delight the kiddies, decided that particular year to give out "wax lips" candy while simultaneously killing off a case of King Cobra malt liquor dressed only in his bathrobe. As it turns out, the candy wasn't the hit he thought it would be, nor was the sight of his pecker gift wrapped with a free package of wax lips. Sometime towards the end of the evening, a pair of what appeared to the now shithoused Bim to be college age girls had shown up looking for some "goodies" and were shocked to see him parading his "Lt Dangle" around for all to see. "Aren't you girls a bit old to be out trick or treating?" asked a suddenly aroused Bim. "What the fuck kinda candy is that you sick fuck?" one of them shrieked, while the other one blasted Bim with f-bombs at the sight of his "perverted old fuck" costume. They promptly ran away but came back a short while later and peppered the front of Bim's house with slightly used toilet paper. Bim, himself fresh off the crapper from dropping a deuce and a half, took off like a naked maniac in pursuit. Luckily, the girls narrowly escaped into the woods due to Bim's tragic encounter with some briars that caused him to lose almost a half pint of blood before he could quell the bleeding, although he did threaten them with his "fleshlight and back door dance" if they ever came back around. Bim eventually made it back home and passed out on the couch, and thankfully, no one was the wiser for his antics. He no longer gives out candy and instead spends most halloweens giving prostate exams at the local free clinic. To set the mood of the meeting off right, Fred decided a Weyerbacher Romeo (8.0%) was in order, "to celebrate our naked heartthrob". This is a Belgian strong ale that is sweet like a quad and thick like cough syrup. The belgian yeast shines through the slight heat from the alcohol and leaves it a bit boring. So so at best, we then pulled out the Mikkeller Black Hole Stout (13.1%) series to do a side by side tasting. The boys at Mikkeller take their phenomenal Black Hole Stout and then age it in different barrel styles to give it a unique taste. We had acquired 6 of the 7 different bottles and decided now was a perfect time to try them. First up was the Tequila Barrel, a super sweet, intense agave flavor that poured through the thick dark stout roastiness and garnered a really good. Next was the Cognac Barrel, which had a real smooth velvety finish that had subtle hints of the brandy character of the aging barrels. Another really good, we then tried both the Red Wine Barrel and White Wine Barrel, each of which was imparted a noticeable tart note from the wine. Both were solid but thin, so each received a good. Bourbon Barrel was then opened and it had the distinctive sour mash flavor from a fine bourbon but the profile was turned down a notch and it didn't hit your tongue with the fire that is present is most good bourbons. Another solid good, we then got a huge kick to the stomach when we tried the Scotch Whiskey Barrel version. Imagine taking a band-aid and then throwing it in a campfire, dousing the fire with sea salt and then pouring the wet remains into a bottle. This tasted worse than that sounds and was simply awful. "I would rather chew on a newborns wet diaper than drink another sip of this gasoline" said Bim as Snake chimed in, "This tastes like a used diaphragm, a really used one". This was a quick drain pour and received a sucks for good measure. To hopefully finish the day on a good note, we then tried a Mikkeller It's Alive! (8.0%). This one is classified as a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, but its more gueuze/lambic tasting to us. Lots of barnyard funk and lemon zest smack you at first followed by a very slight sour note that was a welcome respite from the liquid ashtray that had just annihilated our tongues. Definitely worth a try, this one got a really good. Since Snake had to leave for a "financial planning" session at the oceanfront later that afternoon, we decided to adjourn the meeting with plans on having a blowout the following weekend. Just remember kids, when you're out trick or treating and you happen to come across a clown with big red lips......run as fast as you can and never look back....it might be Bim and his fleshlight.....