Category: Trips

Royal Easter Beer

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, Trips, vacationsLeave a comment

This weekend I was up in Michigan for Easter or Zombie Jesus day, whichever terminology you prefer. While I may have grown up in Michigan, I honestly don’t know the area that well. We tended to stay in my West Bloomfield bubble. Now, I like to try out the different breweries in the area when I can.

Saturday night we grabbed a few at The Royal Oak Brewery. This place has been around since the mid 90s. The taproom reflects the working class vibes Royal Oak tended to have till it became a millennial hotbed. The brewery makes really solid beers. I went with the Royal Pride IPA and the Northern Kolsch. Both were good beers. Nothing crazy or spectacular that stood out but both good beers that I would have again. Having been around for much longer than many craft breweries, it is clear that they know what they are doing. Sometimes just doing the little things is enough to be good. Credit to The Royal Oak Brewery for recognizing that.

Quality in Fairfax

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, Restaurants, TripsLeave a comment

A big reason I took this job 9 months ago was because of the travel I get to do. This past week I flew off to Fairfax, Virginia for a few days. While my free time is limited on these trips, I do make an effort to try out at least one thing while I’m there. This time I made a visit to Ornery Beer Company and visited a few local bars near George Mason University.

While the beer was great, I would say the best part was the quality of the bartender, Corey. He very well may be the best bartender I have ever had. From offering suggestions to a good conversation, Corey made my visit top notch. Well done man.

Now, the beer and food was pretty good too. The Bull IPA was a really delicious too. This came off a recommendation from Corey. The IPA had a great floral taste to it and was extremely drinkable. A well made IPA.

I honestly don’t know if I will ever be back to Fairfax again in my life, but that is what is great about this job. The opportunity to see little towns and pockets of America I would normally never have checked out. If you ever do find yourself there, check out Ornery Beer Company. Hopefully Corey is bartending that night.

Viva La Beer

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, Trips, vacationsLeave a comment

I could start with a cliche Vegas saying here. But I’ll refrain. And for the sake of my mother, who is one of the 13 people who reads these, I’ll spare most of the details from this trip.

Luckily, I did miss the shooting at the Bellagio by 30 minutes or so. That was more lucky than I was at the tables this trip.

Vegas has pretty much everything you could want but finding a good beer on draft in that city is damn near impossible. And no Mark, Blue Moon is not a craft beer you asshole.

I did manage to get to the Sin City Brewing bar on the strip and have some beer there. Their seasonal Double IPA was one of the most drinkable DIPAs I have ever had. Crushing a few of those by the pool could get dangerous.

Overall, Vegas needs to up their craft beer selection in the casinos on draft. Do better Sin City.

Thank God We aren’t in Kansas Anymore

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, TripsLeave a comment

It has been almost three weeks since I came back from a work trip to Kansas, and it is time I  write about it. Kansas itself was fine. I travel for work a decent amount so I am use to sleeping in random hotels and eating dinner in airports. It is part of the job and for the most part I enjoy the airline miles and credit card points. However, getting back from Kansas was travel purgatory.

Trapped in an airport for 9 hours, my coworker and I even lowered ourselves and tossed aside our dignity to get massages in those big leather chairs randomly placed in terminals that if they were a little bit larger could double as casting couches. Word to the wise, hopefully you like a little butt play because those chairs grab hold of your calves and every couple minutes shoot a little rod up just enough for you to jump up wishing this chair had at least taken you to dinner first. We will always have that moment together Wichita.

Now, why were we trapped there for 9 hours you ask? You probably didn’t ask but I will tell you anyways. Our flight coming in from Chicago was late due to fog and Wichita, Kansas is not exactly a travel hub. Flights out were limited and our gate agent wanted to send us to Baltimore because Baltimore is close to Cleveland. I kid you not, this guy actually thought Baltimore and Cleveland were close by. The apparent lack of geography knowledge by some people is mind boggling. I was ready to hang this guy by his 70s porn stache. United, not only do your flight options suck, but your employee screening process clearly is lacking.

When we finally flew out, we landed in Chicago but with no available flights that we could get on for at least 12 hours, we grabbed a rental car and drove back to Cleveland arriving home at 7 am. I even made it into work at 1 PM. I’ll accept my award now for Employee of the Year.

Oh yeah, I had some decent beer at River City Brewing Co., and a pretty good pizza but the overall mess of that flight back overshadowed the whole thing. Never fly through Chicago people or you will end up sitting in a airport massage chair questioning your life choices. Happy New Year!

ATX, WVU and a Whirlwind of a Weekend

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, Football, Trips, vacationsLeave a comment

Texas is a completely different place. I think that’s been pretty well documented #texasforever. This was my first time in the state for more than just a layover and I took my talents to Austin. Talents is a loosely defined term.

In a whirlwind of a weekend, I accomplished quite a bit here. The highlight? Witnessing WVU knock down the Longhorns with a two point conversion to go up one point with just seconds remaining. Will Greer is a God.

While the game was amazing, I also managed to go to an EDM concert (The people watching at that is entertainment) and checked out a couple breweries. I visited Brewtorium for lunch and also made a stop at Live Oak. I need more time here as there were plenty more I wanted to check out, but both delivered some good beer. And wow were their spaces huge for craft breweries. Everything really is bigger in Texas. The Spacelaser Double IPA from Brewtorium and Smoaktoberfest from Live Oak were the best of the bunch. The Spacelaser was one of the best Double IPAs I’ve had recently.

Overall, Texas has some great beer, good music and good food. Survived another trip. Till next time, Keep Austin Weird.

Oh So Good

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, baseball, Brewery, Distillery, Restaurants, TripsLeave a comment

Well, I am sitting here in class, munching on Jimmy Johns, hoping it soaks up the beer as I mourn the end of the Indians season. Now seems like a good time to talk about O.H.S.O. Brewery and Distillery in Phoenix, Arizona. Need something to take my mind off that embarrassing sweep the tribe suffered.

I had a work trip out to Phoenix last week,and while my free time was limited, I did find some time to visit one Brewery, O.H.S.O. Brewery and Distillery.

The beer was pretty good at O.H.S.O. The bartender was great giving the guy I made friends with next to me, bonding over the Cubs Rockies game that went to extras, and I tastes of their vodkas. The 89 ale and Orange Pedal were both very good beers. The Orange Pedal reminded me of a creamsicle and who doesn’t like creamsicles? I grabbed some food while I was there as well and the mac and cheese with BBQ pork was very good. Could go for a bowl right now. Something else to take my mind off that display the Indians tried to claim was baseball. There is always next year and another beer to try……

 

Vermont and the Search for the Holy Grail

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, Trips, vacationsLeave a comment

I know I should have written this sooner. Whatever, I have a life (I don’t have a life, I am just lazy). So here is my recap of the beer I drank in Vermont.

How could I not talk about Heady Topper. The Holy Grail (one of them at least) for beer nerds. It was good but that beer was destined to not live up to the hype same as In’N’Out doesn’t live up to the hype. Yeah California, your burger is not that good. You talk about something so much that you think it’s literally birthed from God’s nuts and then it cannot possibly meet that expectation. Nothing against the Alchemist. Their Stowe location was great and I still bought $100 worth of beer. It’s just not the Jesus juice it was talked up to be.

Now, the beer & cider in Vermont is good. Lots to choose from for such a small state. Stowe Cider has some awesome selections and interesting takes on Cider. Same with Woodchuck Cider. The Raspberry Hard Cider was my favorite of the ciders. So drinkable.

I went to several other breweries as well. Ottercreek, Trapp Family, Idletyme, Vermont Brewery, Zero Gravity, Foam, and Lost Nation. Plus, I grabbed other local beers while eating out throughout the week. I drank a lot for 7 days. 2000 vertical climbs though justify this consumption. Each of these places had some great beers. I think though Zero Gravity and Lost Nation were my favorite of these bunch. The Wind (Sour) at Lost Nation was a great beer. Highly recommend that one.

Overall, it was a great trip and I drank some really good beer. Thanks VT. Cheers!IMG_4595

Escape to the Mountains

On By Chris ElliottIn Fitness, Random Thoughts, Trips, vacationsLeave a comment

Life gets really busy sometimes. It gets cluttered and confusing. We get pulled in a million directions. Some we want to do, some we have to do and some we feel we should. Sometimes we just need a break. Vermont to me is a great place to get away. Particularly, the mountains in Vermont. I spent the last week in Stowe, VT doing not much else but hiking, drinking beer and sitting in the hot tub. While I did have some great beer, even tried out the famous Heady Topper from the Alchemist (I’ll detail all the beer in another post), the mountains are my favorite part of being up there.

In the mountains, cell phones barely work, if at all. Modern civilization is not around you. It’s quiet. The only thing to listen to is your own mind. I hiked on average about 22,000 steps and over 150 flights of stairs per day. Don’t worry I drank and ate all those calories burned. It can be quite a climb sometimes. The views are worth it though.

View from the Summit of Mount Hunger

I hiked Mountains like Mount Hunger, saw three different waterfalls, and countless other trails such as the Stowe Pinnacle. Each view more gorgeous than the last.

Reaching your destination after a grueling climb, dripping in sweat is a self accomplishment you can take satisfaction in. From up there, you realize how small you are but how much you can accomplish. Getting away sometimes is exactly what you need to think clearly, to understand your next step. Or just realize you want to chase waterfalls.

Bingham Falls

Ann Arbor

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, College, Restaurants, TripsLeave a comment

This one pains me to write. I hate the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor to me is representative of that. Ann Arbor is the city of Arrogant Assholes. Their Walmart Wolverine fan base is insufferable. I have a strong rule when rooting for college sports teams at a school you didn’t attend, if you ACT score was not within 2 points of the school average you can’t cheer for them. It’s my rule and you must obey. Yet, spending all day Saturday in Ann Arbor was a good time. There, I said it. I had a good time in that city. Like a drug addict admitting their short comings, that was good to get off my chest.

During our day visit to Ann Arbor, we tried three different breweries, Arbor Brewing, Jolly Pumpkin and Grizzly Peak. Each had some good beers and good food. We went heavy on the carbs going with soft pretzels, truffle fries and mac & cheese at each respectively. I like to justify this as carb loading. Regardless, the food was good. Arbor Brewing was probably my favorite of the three with the large selection of beer variety. The Pollination Sensation Honey Lavender Ale was the best one of the day. Top notch beer. Though, if sours are your thing then head to the Jolly Pumpkin. They specialize in sours and have quite a large number of them. The state of Michigan continues to be near the top in beer quality and Ann Arbor did not disappoint despite their reputation as Arrogant Assholes. I may even go back.

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Peak Preak: A Preakness Story

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Trips, vacationsLeave a comment

Can the written word do justice for what was 10 hours of wall to wall bros, beers and mud? That is up for debate, but oh what a day.

A horse race is always a great day to throw on obnoxious clothes like your name is Wilson Wellington Williams the Fourth ready for another day at the Country Club (Side note, we really did meet a guy who referred to himself as “The Fourth”, dude was blacked out by noon and a douche since birth). The Preakness is no exception with this. From there, the day is filled with booze, music and of course the race.

I can’t begin to explain how we took over the Mug and Vine Club part of the infield. We had a group of 20 plus shouting random phrases, pounding Barefoot mini wine bottles in hopes to fill up the whole table, and forcing each other to chug pink moscato. We ran that place up until the largest man at the table puked for the second time of the day all before 1. Unfortunately, the big man could not rally from this one. RIP to those tables. Despite the loss of those tables, we charged on. There were more Black Eyed Susans to drink.

Did I tell you about the mud? My dry cleaner has her work cut out for her. Girls, check the weather before wearing heels. Eating it face first in the mud is a good laugh for the rest of us, but you will quickly regret it. My shoes didn’t survive the weekend and I am hoping my red pants do. Then there was music. Who knew these fine gentleman named Post Malone and 21 Savage were good? Rap music and horse racing are a shit show match made in heaven.

Then there are the races. The thing about the infield is, you can’t see the race. You see 2-3 seconds as the horses flash by. Yeah, betting on things you have no knowledge of is a rush, but in fact I think most people just wanted the horses to finish so they could drunkenly call a surging Uber ride home. The Preakness was everything I hoped it would be and more. That place is THE PLAY.  However, it is Monday so back to the Rat Race.