Victory Brewing: DirtWolf Double IPA

Victory Brewing out of Philly has a penchant for awesome hoppy beers. Some that I have loved in the past include Hop Wallop and Hop Devil. When I heard that they were releasing a new Double IPA, I was certainly intrigued. For all Hop Wallop fans, Victory is temporarily putting that beer on hold in favor of DirtWolf, but don't worry you will not be disappointed. I call/visit my local beer store every week on delivery day, and I made sure to pick up a 4 pack, at $10.99 as soon as it became available.

Typically, I try to limit beer consumption to the weekend, but sometimes you are just jonesing for a beer in the middle of the week, and that was the case. The Red Sox happened to be in the playoffs, which is just another excuse to drink a delicious beer. So, I popped open the first bottle and poured it in my trusty tulip (see above). My wife, who is not a beer fan, immediately commented on the aromas. Tons of juicy hops, including Mosaic, which is one of my favorite varieties that has been gaining popularity of late. Color is hazy, and light brown, standard IPA. Taste is ALL hops, there is a solid backbone of malt, but there is little balance. Hops on the finish as well.

I quickly finished my 4 pack, and picked up a second at the grocery store last weekend. Highly recommended, great value.  Receiving a 96 on Beeradvocate, others agree as well.

I also grabbed a Dogfish Head Bitches Brew.  Solid beer while watching the Sunday Night Football Manning v Luck matchup.

Recent Beers - April 2013

Been on a craft beer tear lately.  Trades through BeerAdvocate, sours, stouts, etc.  I still have a few cool things not photographed, but here are the beers I have enjoyed recently.

Firestone Walker - Sucaba '13 - Single best barleywine I have ever had, and one of my favorite beers.  Perfect for sipping over 2 hours on a Sunday night.  Barrel aged notes, boozy, delicious.

Had to do a lot of legwork to find 8 bottles of this stuff, but definitely lives up to the hype.

Traded 3 KBS for 6 Heady Topper, through a local BeerAdvocate trade.  First time trying this delicious brew and it did not disappoint.

Big fan of Game of Thrones, an excellent TV show.  As soon as I heard this beer was going to be released, I knew I had to track it down.  Picked up 2 bottles, so my brother in law can try it when he comes to visit from Brazil in a couple weeks.

Least favorite of the recent beers.  Sierra Nevada's Ovila line - Quad.  I didn't hate it, but why would I drink this over Rochefort?

ATL Essentials: Spring 2013

As the weather warms up and the days start getting longer, I am beginning to put away the raw denim and heavyweight merino wool and reaching for shirts and vests.  For the 2nd quarter of 2013, I present the ATL Essentials: Spring 2013 Edition.

1) Prana Mojo Shorts - These are some of my favorite shorts.  They are perfect for the gym, casual trips to the grocery store, or lounging around  the house.  Not too expensive.  I am no yogi, but I am sure it would be good for yoga, if you are so inclined.

2) Tera'swhey - Favorite whey, mix as you please.

3) New Balance Minimus - The model that is pictured here is the MX20BK3, the most recent iteration of the cross training focused lined from N.B.  Flat foot, to mimic barefoot walking with a minimal 4mm drop from heel to toe.  These look great and are super light.

4) Auto Detailing - Gotta get the wip fresh for summer, check your local Groupon site for bargains.

5) Olive Chinos - These are not particular summery, but I have been sweating olive chinos pretty hard lightly.  The pictured pair is the NYCO slim from Outlier, but I also dig the Unis Gio, and Apolis Activism joints.

6) Red Sox - The Red Sox have been fairly dreadful the past two years, but seeing as today as opening day for the Boston team, I had to add them to the list.  A number of new names including young Jackie Bradley JR, pictured above, will hopefully breathe some new life into this team.

Until the summer, feel free to check out the ATL: Essentials archives.

New Kittens & Random Stuff

I haven't posted a ton lately, life has been extremely busy.  Work, working out, cooking, and Marina's school keep us extremely busy.  Couple that with taking a bunch of trips to the Boston area, leaves me with little time to blog.  So for this post, I decided to pull some shots out of my iPhone and post them.  

I was in Boston last weekend at my parents, and they recently acquired two new cats.  Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye are the names of the two brothers.  They are so cute and frisky.  Very friendly cats, I totally am smitten by them.

Marvin (left) and Otis (right)

Otis on my lap watching our Yorkiepoo Rosie

Marina is not a HUGE cat person, but I can tell she likes these two

Frisky devil

Marvin and me enjoying coffee and NCAA tournament

Marina and I checked out a local sushi restaurant.  Osaka Japan Northampton.  Prices are quite fair and I had the sashimi lunch special with a buddha roll, we will be back.

Obligatory beer picture.  Fantome Hiver.  Good, but not worth $17.

Tonight, I picked up a bottle of Pretty Things Fluffy White Rabbits.  A hoppy tripel that clocks in at 8.5% ABV.  I really like this beer, it has a great creamy mouthfeel and a hoppy finish.  Very unique.  #1 seed Indiana currently losing dramatically to Syracuse. 

Beer Review: Stone Enjoy By 4-1-13

I was not able to find the last Stone "Enjoy By" IPA beer, and set out to ensure I was able to try this edition.  I was at a local Whole Foods and saw a bunch of bottles and was quick to grab one. I enjoyed that first bottle very much, but the next day I returned to purchase a few more and of course they were gone.  Luckily, I was in Amherst, MA later that week and Russell's Liquors had a good number of bottles on the floor.  Unfortunately my inner Jew did not allow me to buy more than one bottle at $8.45, because the first bottle was $7.49 at Whole Foods.  Either way, awesome beer!

Heavy Tweed Jacket's Magnum Opus on Striped Shirts

Heavy Tweed Jacket is one of my favorite blogs, he focuses on Trad - Classic Traditional American clothing, but curiously is a resident of Japan.  I suppose that is not all that curious, considering how many great trad pieces that I list on eBay end up being shipped to Japan!

Recently he posted an incredible article on the various striped shirts that are available.  I have to admit, this helped clarify the difference between some terms such as "pinstripe" "candy stripe" and "university stripe" although if there is one thing that this article taught me it is that we need not follow a prescription with labeling the type of stripes on these shirts.

Check out the article: HTJ Archives: Shirts of Every Stripe