Every once in a GREAT while . . . I drink beer that I don't sell.

It's a lazy Sunday. I am so excited to finally have had a lazy Sunday!! Seems like it's been weeks since we had a day with nothing we had to do. So, we had a little breakfast at SVEA -- I had a Swedish Tease, which is two eggs, bacon, and a Swedish pancake. I have to have toast with my over-easy eggs and bacon, so I get toast, too. They don't have a liquor license so no breakfast stout with this meal. ANYWAY . . . then Andersonville had a sidewalk sale!! We got a whole bag of books INCLUDING two books I was planning to buy anyway for only $14.00! Among the treasures: Don't Know Much About the Bible and Ellen Burstyn's memoir. Then, we rummaged through the $1.00 bin of organic bamboo clothing at Skinstinct and got a few things.

And now it's Sunday night . . . and I am having two beers. Both of these I obtained through the magic of the beer-sales trade, as in I traded samples with a couple of salespeople from other companies. It's the most cost-effective way to try stuff! First beer: HARPOON SUMMER BEER. Harpoon has been around since the late 80's, out of Boston and Vermont. And I say of all their beers I have tried: Not bad. I'll drink 'em. They have an year-round IPA and some seasonal offerings. I've had their holiday beer, and I'll drink their IPA if I'm somewhere where they don't sell beer that I sell. And I think they are all -- oooh, I hate to use this word -- very drinkable!! They are not super-complex, the summer beer tastes like light wheat and lemon zest, I sucked it down pretty quickly -- it was good! As I remember, the holiday beer tastes like cinnamon sugar, but I'll taste it again this year and let you know. Second Beer: LUCKY KAT by Magic Hat Brewery. Okay. I like this too. Yes, I have regrettably disparaged the Magic Hat beers on my blog before, but the Cheshire Cat is on the label and the liquid is not half bad. So if you are at a gathering and there is a brightly colored 12-pack of Magic Hat beer -- this is the one I'd reach for.

So proud of my SUESSICAL THE MUSICAL friends

It's a veritable art gallery! Today, I saw two performances of SUESSICAL JR. at the Towle Theater in Hammond. It is a broadway musical condensed and simpified so that younger perfomers can learn it and put it up in a relatively short time. As in, this group had 45 hours. Three weeks, three hours a weekday, to put up an hour and ten minute musical. And, my apologies to all involved with other shows I've seen this year, this was my favorite. The kids ranged in age from seven to 15 years old, and the talent was really remarkable. And, yeah, I am a longtime Dr. Suess aficionado. Just a lovely, sweet show. Entertaining, touching and only seventy minutes? Everything you could want in a Broadway-type musical. Seriously.

I have recently agreed to direct the non-musical show KISSING at the Towle in the Spring of 2010. (2010. Huh.) It will be my goal to keep KISSING under an hour and 20, but we'll have intermission.

So, after a Dr. Suess musical, I reached for a whimsical animal-themed label in my fridge. Three Floyds again -- what can I say? APOCALYPSE COW is a double IPA with an intense citrus character and a malty sweetness augmented with a creaminess provided by the addition of lactose malt sugar. So good! So hoppy, yet so smooth! But it's gone for the season now, so I am afraid you are out of luck if you haven't gotten your hands on one yet. As the immortal Theodore Geisel said, From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!

Welcome to the Beer Summit. What would you like?

I know. I am constantly blogging about New Holland, Great Lakes, and Three Floyds. What can I say? They are my big three breweries -- my no-fail, go-to beers that are always in my crisper (that's where the beer lives in our refrigerator). Three Floyds current seasonal release, Gorsh Fock, is a Helles Lager. Very well balanced, nice malt sweetness with just the slightest bitterness in the finish -- this is far and away the most traditional beer these guys make. This is really classic American Craft Beer stuff -- taking a very classic German style and recreating it. Lovely.

Tonight I enjoyed a Trappist beer, Rochefort 6. The Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy monks make three different beers; the 6, the 8, and the 10. The monks spend most of their time in meditation, reflection, and prayer -- brewing beer is not their priority. But, all Trappist orders believe strongly in work as a sacrament. And ALL the Rochefort beer is made within the walls of the Abbey, by the company of 14 monks ranging in age from 35 to 82 years. The beer is brown and malty, with a thick effervescent head and some acidity. I got some licorice and plum out of it, maybe even a little prune. All their beers are worth trying! 6 is the lowest in alcohol of the three beers they make, this one is about 7.5%.

Must go now! Watching Top Chef Masters.

SYTYCD

It's Melissa and Evan!! I love Evan. Although Brandon will probably beat him.

Hmmmm. Where's my photos? There.

Did you know? I love beer

What am I drinking tonight? Great Lakes Grassroots Saison. It tastes like an asparagus lambic, if that makes sense to you. Strangely enough, I do NOT like asparagus. As in, I won't order food if it comes with asparagus. But I like this beer. Also, for your viewing pleasure, my artsy photo gallery/love letter to Imperial Mad Hatter from New Holland! Yes! I love it! As a beergirl who an honestly say her all-time favorite beer is DREADNAUGHT from Three Floyds, which is a super-hoppy Imperial IPA -- The Imperial Hatter is equally hoppy and delicious, with more port-like qualities like the Dogfish 120. I know hops aren't in vogue as much as they once were, but I LOVE THEM!!

In reality TV:

Melissa is all about the pointe, isn't she? Oh, by the way, aren't we all happy for Jillian and Ed??? I am so happy for them. He's a Cubs fan, dontcha know. Yeah!! Go Cubs!! 12-0 today!!

I did a staff tasting/training with the super deluxe team at the ELYSIAN HOTEL today. Andreas and his team love beer. Even the ones who thought beer was fizzy yellow water -- I showed them the light. This hotel is AMAZING -- can't wait for it to open. If you need me on any given Thursday after 5 pm, I'll be in their lounge.

Where've I been?

Well, I have been singularly unambitious in figuring out how to upload my Dark Lord Day videos to YouTube and then to here.  Part laziness, part exhaustion, part reality-TV.  But, you see, the videos have to be uploaded to the PC, not the MAC, which will take forever unless I get the PC hard drive cleaned out first.  All these obstacles, when I should just be blogging happily about beer.  I have been laying low.  Lately, as you know, I have been loving New Holland Brewery.  This week, we received their IMPERIAL Mad Hatter (not the one pictured here, but I love the regular Hatter and I had some in the house).  The Imperial is dry hopped with Cascade, if I'm not mistaken.  I had the great pleasure of riding with Fred Bueltmann from the brewery a couple of weeks ago, and I quizzed him endlessly about this beer.  I'll be at LUSH at 2232 WEST ROSCOE tomorrow night.  I'll buy a bottle, then we'll talk.  Also, Twisted Spoke will have Oak-Aged Hatter on tap.  Edgewater Lounge, here in my hood, will have BOTH the Oak-Aged and the Imperial on tap.  So I'll be eating a meal there sometime in the next few days.  

And yes, I am watching The Bachelorette.  I hate Wes.  I am rooting for Jake, but she doesn't love him, you can tell.  What this summer needs is a classic reality show like BATTLE OF THE NETWORK STARS.