I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.

I am doing my review of Modicum some time after I actually went there.  I have never gone back more than a few days, but there is no reason to skip it.  I was in Eau Claire for a Board meeting, and I had a bunch of free time.  I did a quick search for nearby breweries and found this one.  I had not heard of it before, so made the short drive to Modicum.  There is a sign outside, but when you walk in, you are in a neat market-place/coffee shop, called the Coffee Grounds.  It took me a minute to find the brewery, which is back in the corner of the building.  This exemplifies their purpose statement of doing things in a modicum.  I use the word "modicum" all the time, which is more than the word should be used as it stands for a smaller, measured amount.  A conundrum.  

It rained the whole way to New Bedford and most of the time we were there and the whole way home.  A cold front came with it and temps were in the 60's where they had been in the 80's and 90's prior to that.  Perfect, I didn't have to drink a lighter beer this time.  It's not like I woke up and thought, "I can have an amber or a porter today", but when I sat down at Moby Dick Brewing, this crossed my mind.  We had been at the Whaling Museum, which is across the street.  The whole little area around the museum was cobblestone streets with small shops, cool restaurants and old historic buildings.  Bring some quarters because a lot of the parking was by meter only.  The museum was really cool actually and we spent two hours there.  New Bedford was the epicenter of whaling in the 19th century and the museum does a great job on the history, people and result of whaling on the community and the world.  I recommend it highly.

I recently took a trip to Boston and even though I didn't have a lot of time for brewery visits, I did sneak two in.  Despite hurting myself in my haste to make it to Democracy Brewing before it closed, I was glad I did.  My experience was brief as they close at 8pm on Mondays and I got in at 7:30pm.  I would want a place in Boston to be named Democracy Brewing or some version of freedom or rebellion.  I spied this place when I had breakfast across the street in the morning and had it in the back of my mind all day.

Red Lodge, Montana should be on your bucket list.  It rests just below the Beartooth Pass and is one of those cool mountain towns that is a prelude to ski resorts and outdoor magnificence.  The Beartooth Pass is one of the coolest mountain passes in the nation and I implore you to drive the switchbacks and vistas.  You will not be disappointed.

I like themed breweries for some reason.  It's something that differentiates you from the crowd, usually has some attachment to the owners and gives you something to talk about.  Launch Pad started when a home brewer and a friend combined talents to build a brewery.  Both Air Force veterans, worked in aerospace after their service and had flight in their blood.  With the rocket theme, things really took off and from the looks of the crowd in there when I popped in, LPB is doing pretty good.

My son and I ventured to Colorado over Break.  Too bad I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as I should have.  Six hours after landing a massive snow storm overtook the state, dumping 20+ inches of snow across much of the state.  Before it hit, we stopped at Six Capital Brewing in Aurora.  I'm glad we did.  The name is a little odd, but the food and the beer were excellent.  The name is an homage to the six prior capitals of Texas before Austin finally became the last and final one.  I figured maybe the owner is from Texas, but no.  Who cares, I guess.  You can name your brewery anything you want for any reason.  Colorado is home to the fourth most breweries per capita and I knew it was going to be a good place to find good beer.

Sometimes Maps can be deceiving.  When looking up breweries in St Augustine, it looked like getting to Dog Rose was quite the jaunt through historic downtown.  As I was walking around exploring, I literally went one block off the main drag and found the brewery.  Well, no need to look around further, so I sauntered in.  The building is pretty new and roomy.  They had a nice wooden bar with plenty of other seating and some shuffleboard games and darts.  I sat right on the end of the bar with all the brewing vats and equipment off to my right.  Of course, I tried their red as I had just drank one at Ancient City Brewing a few minutes before.  This one was one of the best reds I have ever had.  Called, Rhapsody in Red, it is an American Amber that has an unusually high IBU of 42 and a 5.2% alcohol content.  I say unusually high only because reds are normally in the 25 range and even though it isn't always true that IBU relates to an actual bittererness taste, it does usually follow that way.  This drank more like a 25, with no bitter hint, but I sure could taste the caramel malt and chocolate that I was looking for.  it was smooth going down and flavorful.  IBU calculators are made to take a bunch of factors into account, like the grains used, boil gravity, boil volume, alpha acid content and bunch of things beer drinkers just take for granted.  It can depend on your own palate and what you've eaten in how you feel about it, but scientifically, something with a higher IBU should be more bitter.  I felt none of it in this beer.  I'm curious as to why and it could be because of the centennial hops they added in.

It's been awhile since I have blogged, so I apologize for that.  I recently took a business trip to Florida and hit a few breweries.  Ancient City was one I had on my list.  Right in the heart of old town St Augustine, I stepped in as a brief rain shower hit.  It was just before lunch, so the crowd was small and I got a table in the middle of the room.  Like normal, I gravitated to my go-to's and decided to have a red ale called Matanzas River Red Ale.  At 6.2% alcohol and an IBU rating of 26 I expected it to be smooth, but my first sip was more harsh and bitter than expected.  It smoothed out after that.  Now, I had not eaten anything at that point and had brushed my teeth about a half hour before that, but it caught me off guard.  As I took a few more swallows, I could get some of the chocolate notes, but not the pecan.  They state it has a dry finish and it does.  So, not a normal red, in my book, but not bad either, just different.  I used to not think of pairing my beer with food, but some people are religious about it.  Ancient City says it goes good with barbeque and I can totally see that. 

Normally, I wouldn't do three breweries in one post, but all I did was stop in for one beer and left.  I was traveling by myself and had an afternoon to hit the scene.  In fairness, I probably can't do each of them any justice, but I wanted to make my way around and get a taste of what Albuquerque had to offer.

If you're in New Mexico and you're a beer fan, Santa Fe Brewing is for you.  I hit two of their locations in Albuquerque, both of which are in cool settings.  The first one, they call Green Jeans Farmery, which has an open-air area with multiple levels.  It was about 28 degrees, so I did go inside to the bar, but after ordering I walked all around and checked it out.  There were people sitting outside, so don't call the people of New Mexico wusses.  The elevation was about 5,000 feet, so they know what cold is.  The brewery has been around since 1988.  Like every craft beer story, it started out with a guy with passion for beer and an idea.  He partnered up with some dudes and ran it for awhile, but others saw opportunity and bought the original owners out.  Then one of those guys bought all his partners out in 2003 and really expanded things.  His name is Brian Lock.  He has opened several new and impressive locations and has done what all smart breweries do and become a community-based business.  They brew around 40,000 barrels a year and have a big presence in New Mexico.  You don't survive for 35 years without making good beer.

I had been meaning to go to Lucette for some time, but just never got to it.  Lucette Brewing Company has been in Menomonie, WI since 2010 and opened a new facility at its current site in 2015.  By the looks of it they have just done a remodel and added a beautiful event pavilion.   The pavilion is pretty big and appears to be perfect for big get togethers, like a wedding or reunion.  They have a main floor bar area with seating for dinner.  Off to the left are the steel brewing tanks you expect to see in a brewery.  An upstairs area for dining was open as well.  When walking in the front door, there was a large unfinished area that I am unsure of what it will be, but perhaps more seating and another bar area.