Surly Blakkr @ Mill City Tavern, Minneapolis Airport

I was in the midst of flight delay on the way home from Minneapolis and stopped in at the Mill City Tavern in Terminal G.  Really nice restaurant with solid options for food and tons of great local beer.

Blakkr is a Double Black IPA, a style I haven't really seen around.  Black IPAs awfully similar to hoppy porters and generally a style that I quite like.  I wasn't totally sold on a 10% Double Black IPA, but like I said, there was a flight delay, and I wasn't getting home until midnight.  Not to mention that I had been delayed and only arrived in Minneapolis at 2am in advance of an 8am meeting.  And I was staring down the barrel of a board meeting at 8am the next morning, then a flight to Toronto the next evening for another 8am meeting.  A pretty trying week!

I liked the beer quite a bit.

Boston Beer Haul: Trillium Artaic + Others, Night Shift Santilli, Singlecut plus Oysters

Growing up in the suburbs of Boston, the city is what I consider my "home town" and its one of the best culinary city in the country, by all regards.  Two things Boston does really well are beer and oysters.  Trillium Brewery is doing amazing things in Boston's rapidly gentrifying Fort Point neighborhood in the South Boston Seaport.  Very easy access to the financial district and lots of open space are a recipe for surging real estate prices.  Trillium focuses on hoppy beers and they are one of the most coveted breweries on the beer trading forums around.  Artaic is a Double IPA brewed with honey, very clear and transparent in contrast to many of Trillium's other brews.

Trillium recently opened a secondary location in suburban Canton, MA and are now offering limited distribution through the state.  I was in a prominent liquor store south of the city and picked up a couple bottles including their flagship Fort Point Pale Ale and Scaled IPA.  I also grabbed a Singlecut beer that was quite nice, although I can't remember the name of it, nor can I make it out from the picture.  It used NZ hops though and was surprisingly good!  Finally, I grabbed a 4 pack of 16 oz cans from Night Shift Brewery, out of Everett, MA.  Their Santilli IPA is one of the handful of beers they distribute and is a good every day value, although definitely inferior to Trillium or Tree House out of Western Mass.

A visit with my parents meant that I was grabbing a dozen oysters to enjoy with my dad and cracking a beer or two.  These oysters are from Duxbury, MA's Island Creek Oysters.  Lucky to have such easy access.

Beer Mail - Russian River Pliny the Elder/Damnation and a Holiday Beer it Forward!

Participated in a couple of beer trades/swaps over Christmas time



Fresh Pliny the Elder and Damnation



Nice haul from a fellow Styleforum member!

Los Angeles Christmas 2015 Stuff - Blue Bottle Coffee, Superba Food + Bread, Runyon Canyon, Tatsu Ramen

Wife and I took a nice little trip out to Los Angeles over Christmas

Tatsu Ramen in the Sawtelle - spicy ramen + sapporo

Blue Bottle Cappucino on Abbot Kinney in Venice

Latte @ Superba Bread + Food on Lincoln Blvd in Venice

Sweet view of DTLA from Runyon Canyon

View of the hills from Runyon Canyon

Hill Farmstead Flora B/B

I was in the mood for a single nice beer on Friday night after having hit it pretty hard the night before.  Usually when I am in a mood like that I will generally reach for either a stout or sour, since they are more complex than the IPAs or hoppy ales I usually drink.  I have two of the Hill Farmstead Flora B/B's hanging in my cellar, so before dinner I popped this in the fridge to cool it down a bit. I typically prefer water or wine with food, so after everything was cleaned up, I popped open this bottle.  An approachable 375ml that Hill Farmstead uses for its lower yield beers, attractive label, pours a nice fruit purple/red with moderate foam.  The foam dissipated fairly quickly.  Lots of HF funk on the nose, some fruits.  Taste was pretty nice, fruit is restrained, unlike some American wild ales.  I contemplated this over the 45 minutes or so I drank it, and really enjoyed it the whole time.  I look forward to my next bottle.

Muqueqa Boston - Yum

hot sauce on the left is key.

Muqueqa is a Brazilian fish stew, primarily from the Bahia region.  You pour it over some rice and are off to the races.  Side of beans is key.

For me, a big old picanaha steak with a fried egg on it.  Side of carbs - fries and rice.