What's happened since my last post here... Also: Adventures in beer

Well... looks like I've forgotten to consistently update this thing again. XD  A lot has happened since then... I've been continuing to have a job (and like it fairly well), and in fact have actually gotten a slight pay increase (from minimum wage to $7.50/hr, with the possibility of a further boost to $8/hr if I finish some more training videos.)  Two of the three coworkers I didn't get along with have quit, Richard Nixon style (...basically they knew they were going to get fired so they quit first) and I'm waiting on Douche #3 to finally decide to actually quit rather than just ranting about how he's going to quit but not actually doing it.

My car has had a couple of issues (first a near-dead battery, which was replaced, and more recently a broken shifter linkage and some messed-up motor mounts... which were fixed/replaced over Thanksgiving break, so I have a car again) but isn't giving me any trouble at the moment.  I've managed to make another visit out to the Roanoke area which went really well (...though I could've done without the drive home afterward... driving on back roads at 2 am with a fogged-up window is a bit scary), as did the day when I managed to convince a friend to come see me in Buena Vista.

I've finished a couple more paintings for people who are leaving soon (most recently, I finished one just in time--she's leaving today, and I just so happened to bump into her in the library yesterday right after I'd finished the painting! huh? me actually having good luck? weird!)  I've also finished my first OHRRPGCE game since high school, Okédoké! La Leyenda Mexicana, which can be downloaded here if you'd like to try it out.  And last month, I did NaNoWriMo and actually managed to "win" for the second time in my life (and do so early for the first time ever--I started a day late and still somehow managed to go over 50,000 before the end of the 28th of November.)

And, on a completely unrelated note, I've discovered that "beer that I actually like" is something that really does exist after all.  Maybe I just needed to try it a few times to let my taste buds adjust to "beery" tastes, or maybe my first attempt at trying some years ago just ended up with bad circumstances all around (beer wasn't cold due to fridge being off, I tried to drink it with a chocolatey granola bar which probably wasn't the best choice of food, I had tried one of my dad's dark German beers first because that was what was readily available rather than trying something lighter, etc...), or maybe some combination of both... but either way, I now drink beer semi-regularly and actually like it.  The rest of this post will be talking about beer and my experiences so far... just a warning for those among my Mormon friends who might not want to read about beer.  I know not all of you are offended by the very mention of mild barley drinks, but I haven't brought up the subject with most of you guys so I figure I'd slip in a warning ahead of time before going right into a big ol' beer post. XD

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Anyway... the history of me actually having positive experiences with beer goes back only as far as September, when I tried Blue Moon's Harvest Pumpkin Ale.  At first I didn't like it much at all--it was "too beery" for me at the time, though it tasted better to me than what I remembered of the beer I tried first years ago.  But then I tried some again a few days later, with some food (spicy pasta!) this time rather than by itself, and I actually found it to be decently drinkable so long as the food lasted.  After having one of them with dinner a few more nights, I was left with a six-pack that only contained two beers.  I had one of them with a meal, and found that... I was actually kinda liking it even after the food was gone.  So I went ahead and had the last one, and was surprised to find that I now could drink the stuff even without the accompaniment of food.

A few days later, I was in the grocery store and saw one of the Blue Moon variety packs.  I figured that'd be a good thing to try, what with the fact that it had six different beers in there rather than just one (like a six-pack) or three/four (like most of the other variety packs that were around.)  Over the next week or two, I tried one of these beers every night, and was somewhat surprised to find that I didn't really dislike any of them, though there were some I liked more or less than others (the pumpkin one I tried first, oddly enough, ended up being one of the three in the pack that I didn't care for quite as much as the others.)  The regular Blue Moon (a Belgian-style wheat beer) has been consistently pretty good every time I've had it, and the Cinnamon Horchata Ale from the same variety pack was nice too (though unfortunately the cinnamon/horchata-ness of it seemed to fade away a lot after about half a glass.)

My first "wow, beer can taste like that!?" moment came from the first time I tried this one...

...the Farmhouse Red Saison/Flanders-Style Ale.  This one (well, the first bottle of it I tried, at least) had some really interesting flavors to it that I haven't had in a beer before or since... it was actually kind of "tomato-y" along with more general sweetish fruit-esque flavors and the bready flavors that you get in a lot of beer.  The second bottle, unfortunately, wasn't the same as the first--it wasn't bad, but the fruit/veggie-ness of the first one was almost totally absent (the "tomato-y" flavor in particular was nowhere to be found in the second one.)  That inconsistency is probably the main thing that would keep me from buying a full six-pack of these--I'd be worried that they'd all be the less-good version, or that I'd only get one or two of the tastier version.  I'm not sure which version is the way this was "supposed to" taste, but I definitely liked the first one I had a lot more than the second.

After the variety pack was gone, I went without buying any more beer for my fridge for a little while.  I did, however, try some at Mexican restaurants whenever I ended up eating out at one.  The first I tried was Pacifico, which was not bad (and seemed to make my food taste even better, somehow) but not amazing either.  Didn't have a great deal of flavor to it at all as far as I could tell.  I also had Negra Modelo, which had much more flavor along with retaining the food-enhancing properties (I'm just going to figure that Mexican beer in general does this, as all three that I've tried so far seemed to.)  I think it might've been better without the lime they served it with, though I'm not sure as I haven't had a "lime-free" version yet (they do sell it in stores around here, though, so maybe that will change at some point in the future.)  My favorite of the Mexican beers so far, though, was this one...

...Bohemia, which I found after looking up some information on it online is apparently made to resemble a German-style Pilsner.  This one was another "huh, beer can taste like that?" moment--I still am not sure exactly how to describe the taste of this one, except that I occasionally noticed bits of lemony flavor in there (even in the one I had without any lime juice squeezed into it.)  I actually liked it enough that I ended up ordering a second one, since my food was not gone yet by the time the first one was empty and I felt like another drink.  I probably could have emptied out a third, too, but by the time the waiter asked if I wanted a third one I figured that since my food was gone (and I was starting to feel the effects of two beers' worth of alcohol...) it might be a better idea not to. XD

The next beer I ended up trying (actually before Bohemia, but I decided to put all the Mexican beers in their own segment) was one I picked up from Wal-Mart during a visit, which was also my first "craft" beer (which basically just means it's made by a smaller company, rather than the big advertising-all-over-the-place corporations like the guys who make Budweiser and such.)  It came in a 22-ounce bottle, and so I ended up drinking the whole thing in one sitting... so I got a bit drunk.  Not unpleasantly so, thankfully (I've only been "dizzy, sleepy" drunk once and I don't intend to repeat that experience... and I definitely do not plan go any further than that! making yourself sick just doesn't appeal to me at all), but definitely "warm and fuzzy."  Anywhere, here's a picture of that one:

Blonde Hunny from Wild Wolf Brewing Company, located in Nellysford, VA (apparently somewhere in Nelson County.) This one was really interesting, and at the time I had it was probably my favorite beer so far (and is still up there, though one that I've had more recently has bumped it down from the #1 spot.)  Like the regular Blue Moon, this was a Belgian-inspired wheat beer.  There were definitely a few differences, though--this one was brewed with honey (which contributed to the taste of it and also gave it a bit higher alcohol content) and still had the yeast in the bottle rather than filtering it out or otherwise removing it.  It basically had all of the features I liked about regular Blue Moon (like the "wheaty" taste) plus a bit more (I could definitely taste the honey here and there), and without the one thing I didn't like so much (...I'm very sensitive to smells, and Blue Moon tended to smell a bit funky if you let it sit out very long.  There was no noticeable effect on the taste when that happened, thankfully, but still.)  This one was really good.  Only comes in canned six-packs and the big 22-ounce bottles, so I haven't gotten more yet (I'm still a bit wary of cans, for some reason...), but since it costs about the same as Blue Moon for a six-pack I'd most likely get this instead if I really wanted more wheat beer at some point.

Shortly after that, I ended up stopping in to a local beer/wine store in Lexington, where I wandered around a bit and then ended up asking the guy at the front for help picking something out since there was just too much to decide from.  He ended up pointing me toward a six-pack of Leffe Blonde, which was imported from Belgium (my first beer from another country! well, aside from that one of Dad's I had years ago, heh.)  I somehow didn't end up getting any pictures of this one (or the next beer I tried after it), but it was pretty good.  "Bready" sorts of flavors were there, along with banana-like flavors, interestingly enough.  Apparently that's a common thing in Belgian beers, and has something to do with the type of yeast they use.  Unfortunately, only half of the six-pack was really good; I'm not sure what was wrong with the other bottles, but I noticed a kinda iffy "smoky/greasy" sort of flavor in them (faint in the fourth bottle but very noticeable in the other two) which pretty clearly did not belong there.  It wasn't so bad that they were undrinkable, but those last few were definitely not as good as the first few.

After those were gone, I tried the Vienna Lager from one of Lexington's local breweries, Devil's Backbone.  Their six-packs are available just about everywhere around here (they're even in the gas stations... though more expensive there than in regular stores), so I picked up one.  That was also pretty good, and I didn't have any trouble clearing out the six-pack over the course of a week or so.

The next beer I tried was George Killian's Irish Red, from one of the local Italian restaurants where my dad took me during a visit over here.  Was pretty good, but seemed to clash oddly with something in the pasta I was eating--when I was drinking it before the pasta came to the table, it had a sweeter sort of taste to it, while afterward it was completely different and not as good.  I've had this one once again since then (from the same Italian place) and it didn't seem to have the same issues with pizza--so not sure if it just doesn't go so well with pasta for some reason, if I had a somewhat iffy bottle that first time, or what.

And after that, since I was running a bit shorter on money than usual, I started looking for something a bit cheaper than what I normally bought.  Most of the beer that goes for $5-$6 a six-pack around here seems to be  the cheap crappy kind, like Bud Light and such, so I was hesitant about buying a full six-pack of any of those.  Then I noticed that Yuengling (which my sister has mentioned liking) sells for the same price as the aforementioned Bud, so... I went ahead and grabbed a six-pack.  Also pretty good.  Kinda similar to the Kilian's overall, though different enough that you probably wouldn't get them mixed up or anything.  Next one I tried was over Thanksgiving break, also at a restaurant with my dad (and sister)--Guinness! Which was pretty nice.  Definitely had a noticeably different taste to it than the lighter-colored beers I've tried, more of a "toasty" sort of thing rather than just "bready."

Also during Thanksgiving break, I found a partial six-pack of old pumpkin beer...

Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale, apparently made by Michelob (and also apparently not being made anymore at all--from what I can find, new packs of it haven't existed since 2012.)  I was expecting this to be undrinkably disgusting since it had been sitting in a cabinet back home for 4 or 5 years, but the first bottle I opened actually wasn't that bad.  I could actually taste some of the pumpkin-pie type spices and everything.  The second bottle, on the other hand, kinda tasted like dirt.  So... I'm thinking I probably won't be drinking the rest of these too quickly, if at all. XD

After the break, and after returning to Buena Vista, I ended up spotting a variety pack that I'd never seen in the stores before...

I had heard from some friends that Fat Tire was pretty good, and I liked that there were 5 beers rather than just 3 or 4 like most of the variety packs, so I went ahead and grabbed this one.  A couple weeks later, I've tried at least one of every beer in the pack, and (somewhat surprisingly) I still haven't found a beer I just plain can't stand (...though the second bottle of old pumpkin beer, tasting like "pumpkin spice dirt," came very close.  Blargh. >_<)

The first one I tried was Fat Tire...

...which was nice, had a bit of a toasty/almost nutty taste to it.  I had the second bottle of this one along with some pasta just last night.  Next up was...

...their Abbey dubbel, which was really good and has risen up into the "favorite beer" slot. XD  This one had, in addition to the dark toasty bread sorts of flavors, a good bit of banana and occasionally something that I can only compare to tropical fruit gum and/or cotton candy.  As far as I'm aware, these flavors are all results of the particular strain of yeast used, along with possibly some sugar added (something that some of the Belgian-style beers apparently do to give the yeast more "food," apparently.)  But yeah... I haven't had the second bottle of this one just yet, but the first one was the best beer I've had so far.

Next up was...

...2 Below Ale, which apparently was made in the style of an English bitter (an ESB or "Extra Special Bitter" to be specific.)  This one was also pretty good.  I have no clear recollections of what I thought of this one, except that I didn't find it to be especially bitter (though apparently some who tried it did--the first review that came up for it when I searched on a beer website I'm on was basically just complaining about the bitterness!)  Which leads into the next beer from the pack I decided to try, which was definitely more than just a little bitter...

...the Ranger IPA (India Pale Ale.)  This basically tasted like liquid pine tree! I was honestly kind of afraid to try an IPA before this point, since I'd read that they're extremely bitter and most people who are new to beer won't like them (...and even some people who're more experienced beer drinkers still can't stand IPAs.)  Apparently this one ranks at 70 IBUs (the scale that beer bitterness from hops is measured by), which is pretty high up there (...the scale basically breaks down after 100, and most above that only list their IBUs as "100+.")  It was noticeably bitter, but not unpleasantly so.  The piney taste was definitely a really strong one, though.  I have to wonder how this sort of beer would work with food--so far I haven't tried it.

And the last one from the pack was...

...the Rampant Imperial IPA.  Which I was expecting to be "like Ranger but more," though it actually ended up being a bit more complicated than that.  The pine flavor was definitely still there, but didn't seem quite as overpowering as in Ranger--there was a bit of something fruity in there as well, and I could sometimes even taste some of the more usual "bready" flavor in there.  This one also didn't seem noticeably more bitter to me than Ranger, despite being 85 IBUs rather than just 70.  It was, however, noticeably more alcoholic--definitely a "just one at a time" beer for me!

And most recently, I noticed a sale going on at the local Food Lion--a 12-pack of beer for only $8.99 (plus a 2-dollar mail-in rebate.)  Since it was Yuengling, which I've already had a positive experience with, I went ahead and grabbed one...

...but not a regular Yuengling 12-pack, instead getting one of the Black & Tan (which is a combination of the Yuengling Porter, a darker beer, and Yuengling Premium Beer which is basically Yuengling's version of the lighter yellowish lager like Bud, Miller, etc.)  Pretty good.  Tastes similar to regular Yuengling but with a bit more flavor and hints of "dark beer" type flavors (more toasty bready-ness, occasional bits of chocolate) every now and then.  Going by this, I figure I'd like the Porter, considering that it's the "black" in the Black & Tan and would be the beer responsible for the "darker beer" flavors present in this one.