Month: January 2018

 

Since our guest Chris Paumi brought us some of his fine home brew beer we don’t have a review on the site of what we drank.  You’ll just have to check out this week’s episode to hear all about his brew.

Lauren and Carrie are holding down the GBS Fort in this episode. Stacey aka the Brunch Phoenix flew to close to the sun on the wings of bottomless Bloody Marys and took Leigh down with her. That’s OK though cause friend of the show, professional chemist and prolific brewer Chris Paumi joins us for a repeat guest appearance. We talk the Cincinnati craft brew scene, Chris talks about his trip to New Zealand and what’s going on with the craft brewing all the way around the world. We also talk a little tennis, Kentucky basketball’s win over WVU and the Super game which shall not be named and of course play Take It or Leave It. Chris brought us a lot of home brew for this one, so give a listen!

Listen to “Episode 96 Send Us to New Zealand” on Spreaker.

In this episode Stacey returns from her nomadic brunch adventures. Carrie gives a run down of her trip to New Orleans, including why flying sucks, airport porta potties, mary jane on bourbon street, why you should read A Confederacy of Dunces and being one star people dining in a 5 star establishment. We also talk some tennis and the Australian Open, discuss the Winter Olympic team fashion and play a new round of take it or leave it. Be a brunch phoenix and give a listen.

Listen to “Episode 95 Return of the Brunch Phoenix” on Spreaker.

 

The sharin’ beer this week comes from Sam Adams.  Their Dark Depths Baltic IPA is a small batch special release beer, that if you can still find, we highly recommend picking up.  It’s a dark beer that works really well.  It combines the best of a dark beer with roasty and malty flavors with the best of the citrus of an IPA.  The balance works very well, the dark flavors definitely help balance out the hoppy citrus of the IPA and takes away some of the bitterness.  Stacey, Carrie and Lauren all liked this one, again if you can find it definitely pick it up.

Leigh’s pick this week comes from Blake’s Hard Cider.  The El Chavo is an interesting cider, we love Country Boy’s Nacho Bait (blonde with Habanero) so we were excited that Leigh finally got a cider with some heat.  Again this is an interesting cider, it’s has less of a traditional cider flavor and more of a mango/heat forward flavor.  If you are interested in beers/ciders with heat and haven’t tried this one yet, definitely recommend.

Stacey hasn’t been on the show in several, several weeks and she needs to restock her beer fridge and quit raiding Lauren’s.  Her pick this week comes from Lauren’s beer fridge, Fall’s City Pale Ale.  Lauren had Fall’s City Lamplighter a few shows ago and even though the Pale Ale is a different style it didn’t disappoint.  Of course Stacey liked it even more because it was in the can.  If you are looking for a solid pale ale that’s Kentucky proud, check this one out.

Lauren’s pick this week comes from Magic Hat.  Their Circus Boy is a Hefeweizen (not Half Bison) that has all of the citrus slightly creamy flavor of a Heffe that you want.  It’s unfiltered with a nice haze and decent wheat flavor.  If you like the Heffe style and you haven’t had Magic Hat, pick this one up.

Carrie’s pick this week comes from Deschute’s Brewery.  Deschutes makes some great beer in many different styles.  In fact we highly recommend their Fresh Squeezed IPA.  Thier Black Butte Porter is no exception to their family of excellent beers.  Not too thick with some subtle roasty flavors, it’s very drinkable and very accessible to porter and non-porter fans alike.  If you like an easy drinking porter pick this one up, even if you are hesitant of porters this would be a good one to try, it may change your mind.

In this episode we welcome not one, but two guests to the show. Nick Reuss and Kyle Sutton “athletic trainers” at Transylvania University join us to talk more hangover stories, what athletic trainers really do and how concussion protocol is applied to athletes. We play another round of take it or leave it including pump your own gas, the Golden Globes and Bills Mafia table breaking. And of course we finish out our College Football Pick’em with the National Championship game.

Listen to “Episode 93 Hangover Intervention” on Spreaker.

 

The sharin’ beer this week was selected on name only, but actually turned out to be good beer.  Sweet Water Brewing’s The Pit & The Pendulum is a Belgian Style Ale with Peaches and Brettanomycees.  This beer had the potential to be way too sour, but Kyle, Nick, Carrie and Lauren all agreed that it was a well-balanced beer that was slightly peach forward without being a sour bomb.  As with this style of beer there was some sediment that poured in the bottom of the glass, but don’t let that put you off trying this one.  If you’re already tired of dark/winter type beers, lighten things up with this one.

Guest Kyle came prepared with a four pack of Rhinegeist’s Experimental J-Hole Red India Pale Ale.  Rhinegeist makes a ridiculous amount of beer and we haven’t found one yet that we haven’t liked.  The Experimental J-Hole is no exception.  It’s an IPA without being too much of an IPA, less bitter on the back end than many IPA’s it’s very drinkable even at 7% and that’s probably why Kyle had two.

 

Our other guest Nick came even more prepared that Kyle with a variety pack of Country Boy beers.  Central Kentucky’s own Country Boy brewing makes a variety of delicious beer, but Nacho Bait and Cliff Jumper are two that we highly recommend.  Their Nacho Bait Habanero Blonde Ale is has a great heat balance and the Cliff Jumper is a solid IPA that anyone who enjoys IPAs would like.  Country Boy is becoming more widely available outside of Kentucky, so if you see either of these at your local beer/liquor store pick them both up.

Leigh doubled up this week and had two CiderBoys Peach County ciders.  CiderBoys make a lot of great cider and the Peach County was no exception.  Not too sweet with a good peach forward flavor, Leigh finished them both.

Lauren went with a Kentucky brewery this week, Louisville’s Falls City Beer Streetlamp Porter.  At 5.4% this is incredibly drinkable porter.  Even though the percentage is low, this beer still has all the malty, roasted nuttiness, chocolate flavors that you want in a porter.  This is definitely a smooth east drinking porter style beer that you will probably want to have more than one of.

Carrie was gifted several beers from friend of the show Ben for the holidays and InFamous Brewing’s Sweep The Leg was one of them.  Carrie was pretty excited to try this one, not only because we’ve never had anything from InFamous Brewing, but also because Sweep The Leg is a Peanut Butter Stout Ale, which is one of Carrie’s favorite styles.  Any peanut butter stout is going to be hard to measure up to Blue Stallion’s Ya Damn Skippy, but Sweep The Leg definitely delivered what it promised.  In addition to a great label, the beer itself was very drinkable.  The peanut butter was more subtle than Carrie would have liked, but there was a good balance of chocolate and maltiness that was able to come through.  Great name, very cool label and an overall solid peanut butter stout offering.   We are defintely interested in trying more beer from InFamous Brewing in the future.

It’s 2018 and on this week’s episode we are talking new year, new you. We welcome Erin Short from The Bliss Between. We talk why we should practice intentions instead of resolutions, how we can maintain happiness in the new year and incorporate mindfulness into our daily routines. We also discuss yoga and where to start. Then we switch gears and talk about our worst hangovers. Leigh and Carrie rail about the PAC-12 and their Refs inability to call games, plus we introduce a brand new segment called Take it or Leave it. Start your year off right!

Listen to “Episode 92 PAC of SUC” on Spreaker.

 

Carrie and Lauren shared a beer this week, that from the label seemed like it was going to be a gimmicky, artificially flavored, overly sweet beer.  The Blueberry Maple Stout from Saugatuck Brewing Company was none of these things and was actually a very pleasant surprise.  Typically this type of beer can have chemically tasting blueberry flavor and be overly sweet.  This blueberry maple stout, however, was a great balance of a chocolate stout, real blueberry flavor and a hint of sweetness.  Both Lauren and Carrie agreed that they could have definitely had another one.  Absolutely a great winter beer, don’t let the label fool you, we highly recommend this one.

 

Leigh brought her own drink to the table this week with her Dreamscile creation.  This is a frozen rum drink, perfect for parties, tailgates, day drinking or any other time you want a mixed drink that will definitely sneak up on you.

Our guest this week, Erin Short from The Bliss Between tried Strongbow’s Gold Apple.  Normally not a cider fan, Erin was a bit hesitant with this one at first, but actually ended up liking it.  Normally she doesn’t like cider because of the sweetness, but was really happy with the fact that Strongbow’s Gold Apple wasn’t overly sweet and also a bit dry.  Strongbow is always a solid go to for cider, but the Gold Apple in particular is probably one of their best.

Lauren’s pick this week comes from New Belgium Brewing, their 1554 Black Lager.  This is an interesting beer that revives a recipe from 1554, thus the name.  This pours dark and has a nice malty flavor, but because it’s a lager isn’t heavy or thick like a stout would be.  A low ABV also makes this a sure I’ll have another beer.  If you want to drink a darker beer during these winter months, but don’t like the heaviness of a porter or a stout this is a great compromise that will give that dark beer feel.

Carrie keeps riding the dark beer train into January with Deschutes Obsidian Stout.  This is pretty straight forward stout.  Fitting with the name, this beer is very dark in color with all the qualities that you want in a stout.  Malty and with a slightly chocolate finish.  Add this to your winter beer catalog especially if you like stouts.