The slacker Beer blogging Girl here. I’ve been meaning to get back in swing of things, and what better way than to have someone remind me how bad I’ve been at posting by volunteering to do a guest post!

One of my friends, Carl, who you might remember from his review of Lion Brewery (here) recently found a Guinness Black Lager (Guinness), and after waxing poetically about how it “Fornicated” in his mouth. Decided it had to be reviewed and shared with the public.

So without further Adieu, I present Carl!

Found nestled within the confines of the reemerging downtown area of Toledo, Ohio, we find the intrepid Scotsman and his bonnie lass Lady A in a cozy pub named ‘The Blarney’.

http://www.theblarneyirishpub.com/

Awesome food, very reasonable prices and a diligent waitstaff made the dinner date a wonderful experience. what made it a truly remarkable evening together, was a turn of my head casually towards one of the flat screen televisions. Upon the screen, an advertisement for what will most likely become my second favorite imbibement next to Guinness Draught. Guinness Black Lager.

Seeing that, I was immediately excited, like the proverbial kid in a candy store. When the waitress arrived back at out table with my Guinness Draught, I promptly asked for the aforementioned GBL, and behold… Angels sang, light shown upon the divine bottle and in my hunger and excitement, I ate Sir Robin’s minstrels, and there was much rejoicing. YAY!!!!

Okay, okay… so the waitress told me they had it in bottles and went and got me one. The scent from the open bottle was pure adultery for the olfactory nerves. Pouring came smooth, the dark color that trademark ruby black just like the draught, albeit less creamy head. Get your minds out of the gutter! Really! Somebody’s kids read these reviews. After the first taste I was left wanting more. Guinness has taken their trademark roast barley and created a phenomenal beer, with a flavor that is both clean and crisp and an aftertaste that is simply sublime. For the avid Guinness drinkers, this is a must for your stable. For those seeking a different spin on a lager, try a bottle. You’ve got nothing to lose and a new beer to add to your favorites list.

Onto more important News.  July 7th I will be turning 30 29.  In Celebration of the epic event I’m going to be having my ThirtiethSecond Annual Twenty-Ninth Birthday Party at Brew it Up (www.brewitup.com). If you can read this, and you are in the area you are invited!

The plan is to brew a sour, eat great food, socialize, and generally celebrate!

Party starts at 4pm on Saturday July 9th
801 14th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814-2909
(916) 441-3000

Thanks to the social joys of twitter the Boy and I have been hanging out with @cdmcclain, @Screamin_J_Pito and Mr. Pito’s girlfriend @mgamoke on a fairly regular basis. This last Saturday we met up at Samuel Horne’s Tavern (www.samuelhornestavern.com) in Folsom for some amazing beer. (Also ran into Rick Sellers (A.K.A. @pacificbrewnews who was hanging out after a shift.)

The details are a bit fuzzy but I have pictures and video!

Early in the evening I stole @Screamin_J_Pito ‘s hat.  This part I recall, I use to have a thing for hats …

Onto beer!

If you follow me on untapped (http://untappd.com/user/agirlandherbeer) then it went a little something like this:

• Bianca is enjoying a Baudelaire IO by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales at Samuel Horne’s Tavern

Jolly Pumpkin (www.jollypumpkin.com)Baudelaire IO is brewed with Rose Hips, Rose Petals and Hibiscus and is a 6.8% ABV Saison.  This was a funky little pink number that we all (Except Cassie A.K.A. @mgamoke who we are still working on) really enjoyed!

• Bianca is swigging a Midas Touch by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery at Samuel Horne’s Tavern

Midas Touch is an old favorite from Dogfish Head Brewing (www.dogfish.com). Part of the Ancient Beer Series.

“This recipe is the actual oldest-known fermented beverage in the world! It is an ancient Turkish recipe using the original ingredients from the 2700 year old drinking vessels discovered in the tomb of King Midas. Somewhere between wine & mead; this smooth, sweet, yet dry ale will please the Chardonnay of beer drinker alike.”

At 9.0% ABV, it’s a very sweet approachable beer.  My friend Reno has guest reviewed it for the blog before. (here)

• Bianca is enjoying a Gypsy Ale by Telegraph Brewing Company at Samuel Horne’s Tavern

8% ABV an American Wild Ale….I don’t remember much about this one…shhhhh….don’t tell.  I do recall that Cassie plucked a plum note out of it that surprised us all when we re-tasted it was definitely in evidence.

• Bianca is enjoying a Four by Upright Brewing at Samuel Horne’s Tavern

In hindsight we probably should have started with Four by Upright Brewing (www.uprightbrewing.com).  4.5% ABV this was a very floral/grassy beer.  Delicious!

There were others, I know we had something awesome that hadn’t been untappd and we were all waiting for someone else to go through the trouble of untapping it….Oh! Sticke Pils!  A Sierra Nevada Brew Camp beer, that Samuel Hornes Owner Dylan made.  Yummy!

But the real high light of the night was coming home with a Pretty Things (www.prettythingsbeertoday.com) Beer.  Extremely rare to find one of their goods on the West Coast without trading for it.  But Samuel Horne’s had (exactly) one of their Saison’s and I had to get it!  It’s in the fridge waiting for the next together with my twitter beer peeps.

Cooking is one of my oldest passions. In fact while I’m a mutt culturally, I’ll frequent joke with the line “I’m Italian and Irish, I can cook and I can drink.” Lately I’ve taken to consulting twitter on my dining dilemma’s and letting them help me finesse meal plans out of my scattered brain. My favorite store to fulfill my culinary fantasies these days is Nugget Market (www.nuggetmarket.com & @Nugget_Market on Twitter) where I can find excellent beer, cheese and damn near anything else I want.

There happens to be two very close to me, tonight I hit the one by my Jazzercise class (Don’t judge me!) and found a new experimental IPA by Widmer Brother’s (www.widmer.com), X-114. Apparently this year they’re releasing four experimental IPA’s and this is the first in the series.  From the Press Release:

So with that in my basket it was on to figuring out dinner.  I knew at home I had Goat Cheese, beets, and some really pretty micro-greens, so that seemed like a good starting place. I picked up a Purple Onion, and after consulting with Twitter*Ahi Tuna and Candied Walnuts.  So with these Raw ingredients I perform magic!  I turn this:

Into This:

Seared Tuna with a Salad of Beets, Goat Cheese, Candied walnuts, shaved red onion over a bed of micro-greens with a Balsamic Glaze/Reduction….and of course, the IPA!

Let it be known that the Widmer X-114 is a delicious bright, biting IPA!

Cheers!

*(Thanks go out to :@madamsaz, @NathanAlesBrew, @MrSeanRoper, @BrewmanceNW, @mtnbke, @iBT_RICH, @5h4wn, @inspector911, @steelerssuck247 for their input)

While this far after the fact it’s impossible to do the various events justice I still wanted to give them mentions (even though they deserve so much more).

While sequence is hard to remember I’ll give it a shot!

1.  Burgers and Brews (www.burgersbrew.com).  Had dinner at Burgers and Brews with the Boy, my brother and sister in law.

AMAZING burgers, great beer selection! Only down side was the place is soooo busy and crowded.  I had a Bacon Jalapeno cheese burger with avocado and two different Hitachino Nest (www.hitachinonest.com ) beers.  The Hitachino Nest Real Ginger Beer and Hitachino Nest XH Sake Cask Aged.  Both were yummy.

2. Dad’s Kitchen (www.ilovedadskitchen.com). Met Master Brewer Jeremy from Knee Deep Brewing (www.kneedeepbrewing.com) and Crew at Dad’s Kitchen.  Knee Deep Brewing has what I love about the beer community. Great people and great beer (Ryedinity Crisis was delicious and the name cracked me up!  Tanilla, a vanilla bean porter was just the right kind of vanilla). Dad’s Kitchen is a funky little venue that had great food. Jeremy advised the Boy and I that Knee Deep would be at The Shack the next day…

3. The Shack (www.eastsacshack.com). Met up with Knee Deep Brewing (www.kneedeepbrewing.com) at the Shack where they were having an absurdly good beer event. (I.E. Give me twenty five dollars, here is a glass…have at it.) I also met a twitter follower (Hi @cdmcclain aka Charles!). Among the notables were Jason Mussetter and Johnny Walker of Mussetter Distributering (www.mussetterdistributing.com). Johnny was a lot of fun and we spent a good deal of time talking until he had to move onto another beer event.  All and all I had a great time, too much beer, and met a lot of fun people! (Pic is Jeremy from Knee Deep Brewing)

4. That Shady Lady Saloon (www.shadyladybar.com). The Boy and I knew we had to go here when I read that they’d be hosting a Grand Teton Brewing (www.grandtetonbrewing.com) night.

As many of you know, I adore Grand Teton Brewing (Here’s the Proof) and there was no way I missing a night they were being featured. Good thing we went! We were fortunate enough to meet up with John Lundholm and Chris Furbacher of Grand Teton Brewing and enjoy a beer with them. I love love love meeting beer people.  There’s something about beer, it attracts the best people to it!  Beer lovers are almost always not only fun, but sincerely good people!  It certainly didn’t hurt that I’ve done so many Grand Teton Reviews that they knew my blog!

5. Rubicon Brewing (www.rubiconbrewing.com).  I went with the brother to get lunch at Rubicon Brewing  and pick up tickets for The Capital Beerfest. Sat down to some awesome sandwiches at Chris and John from Grand Teton come strolling in. It’s amazing how small the world can be when you and your friends are very beer-centric. I kept running into a lot of the same people during Sacramento Beer week, this was just one example!

6. The Capital Beerfest! The culmination of Sacramento beer week. This was at the expo center.

Unfortunately the Boy and I had to be good as his work was having a party a couple hours after the event ended.

Still responsible drinking doesn’t mean you can’t have fun and try lots of things. It just means very small portions. It was a very impressive event. Lots of fun, a lot of beer (unlimited!), met up with Charles again and ran into various people from around the beer scene. Definitely looking forward to next year!

Oh and that work party? It was catered by Adam, Chef/Owner of Tuli Bistro (www.tulibistro.com). Amazing food! He advises me that the Bistro sports a great beer selection (Which I believe as I saw it was hosting numerous Beer Week events) so expect a review on Tuli Bistro in the near future!

Sooo….like I said, this in no way does the various events justice, and I’m sure I’m leaving out lots of notables, but these are the topics I wish I’d blogged about during my time off.

That being said, I’m back.

I’ve changed the layout of the blog, I’ve also added in a section with my personal art (Here) as that’s a pretty big part of my life.

Let the Drinking begin!

Updates to follow.

Tonight’s guest post is from one of my “geek” friends. A Scotsman named Carl who shares my passion for geekery and beer. So without further adieu I present Carl’s review of Lion Brewery (www.lionbeer.com)

“A change for this evening finds neither The Girl nor The Boy reviewing our pleasure, no. Tonight, you have The Scotsman giving you a note of a tasty treat all the way from the island country of Sri Lanka. Lion. It comes in a Lager, a Pilsner and a Stout. Now, unfortunately for everyone, my favorite store in the world, The Andersons did not have any Lion Stout, but were so lovely in having both the Pilsner and the Lager available for my consumption. And here are the results for you…

We’ll start off first with Lion Lager. Bottled and uncapped at a nice cool temp, this beer poured well and carried a scent of it’s hoppy nature straight to my nostrils. On the plus side, it’s smooth going down and leaves that little snap at the end to let you know you did just partake of something good. Only down side, in my opinion was the shortness of the after taste and the meager 4.8% abv. Some beers are good some are bad on taste, Lion Lager is one of those that if it lasted just a little longer would be in the really damned fine category.

Did I mention it goes brilliantly with a prawn vindaloo?

My personal favorite of the two has to be Lion Imperial. Tonight it’s in a can, but I usually get it bottled. For a Pilsner, I really enjoy the flavor and scent. The 8.8% abv also fills out my ManMug quite nicely from rim to bottom. The aroma is nothing short of able bodied and firm. It isn’t like a regular pilsner as most would find, there is a slight sweetness to the scent. One I can’t place but I can wholly appreciate. For taste, it kicks the proverbial shite we’ve all come to see around. Imperial offers your tastebuds the artisan skill from Lion Brewery in Sri Lanka. The flavor nearly fornicates in your mouth, as good as the superb Arrenello’s Pizza from grand old Glenwood, Illinois.

Between the pair, I would offer both to friends who visit, but I think I would try and hoard the Imperial for myself if possible. If you get a chance, please partake and enjoy not only well made beers, but the presence of your friends as you all savor and drink together. Responsibly. “

So instantly I started to feel like an ignorant MOFO which is my default setting whenever I am faced with something confusing(Girl would state this happens often).  I have never heard of a yam beer.  Are yam beers common?  Should I brew a yam beer and call it Yammy Davis?  Will the beer look orange?

Robert’s home brew is called Yam-Tacu-Ale!  Great name.  When I went to Untappd to check in I found it was already there, and none other than Hoptopia(aka The Oprah of Craft Beer)(please follow on twitter @hoptopia and hoptopia.com) had already tried and Untappd it.  Now I felt really special though there was still a bit of lingering ignorant MOFO.

So time to research this whole Yam beer thing.  I didn’t find much but a Bruery I will not name(hehe) released an Autumn seasonal that was all the rage and I was not able to get my hands on.  They used Yams!!!  Sounds like as a substitute for Pumpkin so a similar style.  In fact if you Untappd has the beer style selection as Pumpkin/Yam.

Surprise, surprise this mysterious Bruery is one of Robert French’s regular hangouts and perhaps a bit of inspiration for his own Yam brewing adventure, though I must emphasize that Yam-Tacu-Ale is not a clone but Robert’s own creation!

When The Girl and I drank Yam-Tacu-Ale I forgot to take pictures so was going to use this one.

But we were able to get hold of some great pics (Thanks Robert!) that take you through the process a bit so very cool.

I would describe Yam-Tacu-Ale as a holiday porter.  Nice head to it, has a bit of the spice of the Holiday season and then what I felt the Yam did was make it a bit more of a subtle taste at the end.  Where some pumpkin beers pretty much taste like sweet pumpkin pie at the end, this had a better well rounded finish and was not overpowering.  So very delicious and thanks to Robert French I am now a fan of the Yam!!  I am still an ignorant MOFO!!

First some info from the web page:

When the smell is that distinct the taste normally seems to follow through and that was the case. …well…sort of.

Taste wise it was like the nose in reverse.  When I smelled it the sweets were up front and then balanced by the hop.  When I tasted it I got the pine and citrus first and only later did the sweet malts come out.  It had a nice bitter finish.

I find I really liked this beer.  It’s only the second offering from DuClaw that Joe sent us that we’ve tried but I’m starting to see why he’s fond of the brewery.  Consistently good beer.