Happy Birthday Neil

To celebrate Neil’s birthday, we headed out to grab a table on the Nano bar patio.  As I had mentioned in a previous post, one of the main things I like about Nano Bar is their full line of Large Format beers.  I started the night with The Bruery’s “Mischief”, a hoppy belgian ale.  Very rich and flavorful beer, representing both the yeasty flavor of a Belgian Ale and the floral hops of an IPA.

I then moved on to Hoppin Frog’s Turbo Shandy.  This beer is basically summer Shandy on steroids.  Very citrusy, with a little bit of a bite.

I ended the night with a few Righteous Ale’s, from Sixpoint brewery.  This beer is classified as a “Rye Ale” and has a smooth, creamy, malty body.  Very drinkable, and not overwhelming, so nice to end the night with.

The Mexican Beer Bucket

May is the month of Mexican Beer Buckets at Winking Lizard, which include 5 beer, a bottle opener and a T-shirt for $14, all while racking up 2 credits on the Tour.

After a nice day on the course, I was looking for a few light beers, so the bucket worked great.  Started off with a Pacifico, which is my favorite of the Mexican beers.  I then moved on to a Negro Modello, and a Modello traditional.  Being the nice friend I am (and because I owed him beers from golf) I passed the Corona and Corona Light off to Pitorak.

More importantly, this was the final week of league play for bowling.  We were in an intense match-up with “Kory’s Swan Song” for third place.  Pretty sure we won the first match, but most likely lost the second.  Will be interesting to see who takes the game total point… stay tuned.

Another Tuesday at Reddstone

No crazy beer reviews or anything like that… just wanted to post the mess of wings and fries that we demolished after a night of volleyball at Battery Park.  Team M+N only took 1 of 3 games, but the wings and beers after more than made up for the losses.

Credit to Mark Maloney for the Thumbs up, and Mike Arthur for making the trek back out to partake in Tuesday wing night.

Could also try to get a game of landmines going with the $2 cans consumed…

A night with Passion Pit

Prior to the Passion Pit concert we made a quick stop at Winks Bar and Grille in the Galleria for dinner and a few drinks.  For anyone looking to complete the World Tour, Winks is a great place to knock off a few beers you can’t find at the local Winking Lizards.

Plus, they have the fun “Friends of Dort” coasters that my wife’s marketing firm worked on.  I also was lucky enough to get one of the Friends of Dort T-Shirts, which I will proudly wear to any beer drinking event.  Feel free to call the number listed below to see what your friend Dort has been up to lately.  Or you can see what it is like to hang out with Dort in the video here http://mybeerbuzz.blogspot.com/2012/10/great-lakes-brewing-me-dortmunder-gold.html.

Beers for the Night:

Great Lakes Blackout Stout (10oz snifter) – Very robust stout.  Strong flavor.  Roasted sweet malts, with a dry bitter finish.  Overall score 7/10.

Southern Tier Hop-Sun (16oz draft) – Don’t know exactly how to classify this brew, as it does start off with a initial blast of hops, but moves almost immediately to a strong lemon / citrus flavor.  However, the citrus is less of an IPA citrus flavor, and more of a sweet citrus like a summer shandy.  Very light and easy to drink – which makes it a great summer beer.  Overall Score 8/10.

Below you can see one of my many photos from the Passion Pit concert.  They do put on a great live show – much better than MGMT the week before.  And Masonic Auditorium is a great place to catch a show.  Would be even better if they had some bars / restaurants nearby, but at least it wasn’t a far drive from Winks.

A few more off the tour

So another Thursday night of bowling brought a few more beers off the tour.  As I mentioned in a previous post, getting a little tired of taking pictures of draft beers, bowling balls and bowling lanes, so I added a few other random pictures from the week.

Beers for the night:

Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale (10 oz snifter) – American Strong Ale – An interesting strong ale.  Can definitely taste the booze at a hefty 9.7% ABV.  Not overly hoppy – and doesn’t have the distinct belgian flavor of many other strong ales.  Actually has a strong caramel, malty sweetness – very full flavor.  As I previously mentioned, can taste the alcohol – but not overpowering.  Overall an interesting, different beer.  Don’t think it is my style, but respect the effort.  Overall score 6/10.

Picture below taken from one of my client’s office at the top of the Terminal Tower.  Can get a nice view of the new E&Y building, and additional room for development nearby.

Troegs Sunshine Pils (16oz draft) – This pilsner really doesn’t do much for me.  Has a decent crisp flavor to it, but really only hits on one note.  Tastes like a “beefed-up” Miller Light.  While I don’t have a problem with Pilsners, I am very rarely impressed with them – and this one from Troegs falls into the unimpressive category.  Don’t get me wrong – it’s beer – it’s cold – and it doesn’t taste bad.  Just would go with almost any other beer that this.  Overall score 4/10.

And below is a picture of Chance, our cat.  He was crossing his hands under his chin, but I missed it.  Chance doesn’t drink beers, but has hung out with me on occasion while drinking.  Just try not to make a habit out of it.

Love the Cleveland Summers

Still don’t know why people try to put Cleveland down.  Love the relatively new addition of Battery Park (about 5 years old), and the related volleyball courts overlooking lake Erie.

This will be team Maloney + Novotny’s fifth year on the courts, and we have a title to defend from last fall.  We have started off the year 3-3, but feel like we are shaking off the rust and getting into mid-season form.  For anyone interested, the leagues are run by Hermes, and go in 8 week sessions, with Spring, Summer and Fall sessions available.

Instead of taking pictures of more beer cans from Reddstone, I figrued I would add another photo from the beautiful sunset over the lake.  On the beer front, it was good to see Reddstone still has their $2 can night – although they have scaled back a little on the offerings.  No more Anti-Hero IPA, and no more 21st Ammendment brews (which were an absolute steal at $2 each).  However, they still do have Brooklyn Lager and Summer Ale, as well as the new addition of Red Hook Long Hammer IPA – another great can of beer.  Combine the cans with the $.25 wings and proximity to Battery Park volleyball courts, and I think it is a safe bet to say I will be at Reddstone most Tuesdays this Spring / Summer.

First trip to Nano Bar

As a delayed celebration of Zaluski’s birthday (April 29) and my birthday (May 1), we decided to head out for drinks before the MGMT concert.

With it being a great night (as the past week has been in Cleveland), we hit up Nano Bar on W. 25th Street in Ohio City.  I had stopped in for a beer before, but this was the first time on their huge outdoor patio.  They have a great selection of large format beers so Z and I decided to split a Lagunitas Maximus IPA and Dogfish Head My Antonia Imperial Pilsner.

Would definitely recommend hitting up Nano Bar on a nice day in Cleveland.  One of the best patios in Cleveland, and the best surprise for me was their food.  Nothing crazy – but quality food at a very reasonable price.  We all went with variations of burgers, and everyone leaving happy.

Close to Cinco de Mayo

With the proximity to Cinco de Mayo, we decided to stop at Barrio in Tremont on Friday night.  Pictured below is their Tuscan Guac., complete with Roasted Tomatoes, Balsamic Glaze, Pine nuts and goat cheese.  Very tasty stuff.  Can’t wait until the one in Lakewood opens.

Bowling with Black IPAs

The month of May brings some new bottles and drafts to the Lizard.  In 2013, they started having limited release bottles each month.  The bottles tend to sell out within the first week or so of the month, so you have to take advantage of them while they last:

Beers for the night:

Smutty Nose Noonan Black IPA – 12oz draft – Roasted malty brew.  Has subtle hops at the end that become more pronounced as later in the drink.  Very full / creamy beer, resembling a stout – until the hops kick in.  Overall pretty decent beer – Score 6/10

Heavy Seas Black Cannon – Black IPA (12oz bottle) – Similar to the Noonan – roasted malt flavors, followed by the hops – just not as pronounced as the normal IPA.  Overall score 7/10.

Was trying to catch Pitorak’s throw, crashing into the pins, but guess I didn’t have the camera lined up quite right.  Let’s just assume that he got a strike.

And Erin picking up a spare.