24 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

In the past two months, I have tried 24 different flavors of beer. The fact that I’ve had so much beer recently leads me to a few conclusions about life.

1. Things have been really stressful!

In general, beer is more necessary when life is crazy. Man-oh-man, things have been crazy recently! Mostly it’s just work things. Vick and I have too much to do. In fact, it’s Halloween-Saturday and I’ve been home all night working on work stuff and helping Vick write a Letter of Intent for a fellowship. I missed a Halloween party because of it. Terribleness.

2. I should start running again.
I’ve taken the past 4 weeks off from running. I need to get to it again before my beer gut grows any bigger. I need to start training for something. Is there a half soon? Anyone?

I tried two new beers this weekend (well, Thursday). I was especially excited to try the Atlantic Brewing Company’s Mount Desert Island Ginger Beer. It was described as a wheat beer with ginger, which got me all excited. I opened it up and it smelled like ginger. Mmm. But then, when I tasted it, it was as if all the ginger disappeared. It tasted like a wheat beer, with minimal carbonation and no extra ginger flavor. I was a little disappointed to say the least. Casey Score: 7/10.

The other beer I got was the Sam Adams Latitude 48. I honestly had low expectations. I like Sam Adams beers a lot, but I am a much bigger fan of wheat beers in general. It claimed to be extremely hop-flavored, and my experience with tons of hops has been mixed. I took a whiff before tasting it, and it smelled like a leafy plant. I tried to get Vick’s opinion on the smell, but he just thought it smelled like beer (useful).

It was better than expected. It had a strong hop flavor, but it was all around tasty. Just the right amount of carbonation, crisp, a little sweet, very drinkable- it made my work woes temporarily subside. Ahh. Goodness. Casey Score: 9/10

On Friday I decide to resample the Mount Desert Island Ginger, and it had much more ginger flavor than I remembered from the night before. So, it’s moving up from 7 to an 8 in my book.

Back to work… Does anyone know of an excellent half this winter? I need to get back to running ASAP!

#18 Ipswich Harvest Ale

In addition to raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, one of my favorite things is having a nice, cold beer after a hockey game. My team, the Cheetahs, usually plays late on Sunday nights, and the beer is a nice cushion between freedom and Monday. I look forward to that cold, hoppy goodness so much that I peel off my 40-pounds of equipment in 10 minutes or less. Get me to the beer!

This past weekend, the Cheetahs had two games. One at 9:30pm on Saturday and the second at 6pm on Sunday. We tied both games (which is really good for us!). And we only had one sub on the bench for the Sunday game. So much skating. Wants Beer!

I was excited, too, because I had purchased a random assortment 6-pack before the weekend. New Beers!

Alas, it was not an excellent weekend for beer sampling. I tried 3 beers- the Haverhill Brewery Leatherlips Pale Ale, Guinness Extra Stout, and the Ipswich Harvest Ale. Honestly, the only one worth trying was the Ipswich Harvest Ale (in my humble-ish opinion).

The Harvest Ale was tasty, but it didn’t have the “harvest” flavor that’s in so many Fall beers. It lacked any hint of spice that reminds me of pies. Instead it was full of hop flavor and had hints of citrus. On the Casey scale, it rated a 7 out of 10. I’d drink it again, and I’d even recommend it.

As for the other two after-hockey beers I sampled, I have something to say to you, too… The Cheetah’s 2^nd Period Team Cheer: “1, 2, 3 SUCK LESS!”

Maine Half Marathon

Eight days ago I ran a half marathon in Portland, Maine. Vick, magically, had enough time off that he was able to drive to Maine with me on Saturday. We loaded the car with both dogs, and the cats cheered as we pulled away from the house.

I have to say, I was a little apprehensive about taking both dogs on our first overnight road-trip. LuLu and I had made the cross-country trek in 2008, but she's the most brilliant, well-behaved terrier, chihuahua, Chinese-crested, Mexican-hairless, poodle-thing that anyone could ever ask for. George, the purebred cocker spaniel, on the other hand.... Well, let's just say, he may be one of the dullest crayons I've encountered. He definitely has his strengths. He's got stunning good looks, a happy go-lucky demeanor, the desire to cuddle everyone at every moment, and the ability to clean up dropped food before it hits the ground.

Unfortunately, our George often lacks control of his own bodily functions. We managed to make it through the weekend with only two accidents. The first was a car-sick George in the back of Vick's car. Poor baby. The second, and most endearingly, was when he jumped on my lap for cuddles and peed all over me. Cute.

Otherwise, the weekend went off without a hitch. We spent a lovely afternoon walking around Old Port with the puppies, then checked into the seedy hotel for some rest and relaxation. Vick, the best husband ever, let me chill out and shower while he scavenged for a big pasta dinner and cleaning supplies to fix George's accidents.

Bright and early the next morning, we headed over to University of Southern Maine for the start of the race. For everyone who has called me crazy, weird, or stupid for running: This is my favorite story of the weekend. In line for the porta-potty (yum), I met a woman who was running the full marathon. She was explaining to us that she was trying to run a marathon in every state. She had run the New Hampshire marathon the DAY before! And she said that she recognized a lot of people who had run with her the previous day as well. Runners are crazy, weird, and stupid- but she's a prime example of why I do not consider myself to be a runner. I rest for at least a week before I begin training again, let alone run another race. I am not that crazy, weird, or stupid.

The temperature was probably in the upper 40s or lower 50s. The sun was out though, and the course was beautiful. We trotted around a cove and over a bridge before entering some nice residential neighborhoods in Falmouth, Maine. Only two small hills to climb, in striking contrast to the treacherous New Hampshire half marathon I ran in August. Then we turned and headed back. All in all, a lovely run.

I finished in 2:20. My time was about a minute slower than my fastest so far. I was elated, though, to have finished relatively unscathed. I was tired, but able to drive myself out for ice cream after Vick left for work on Sunday evening. My quads and calves were only sore for three days. Unfortunately, my left calf seems to have been strained, as I'm still not able to run without an ice-pick sensation. Dr. Vick believes it will be all healed in 4-6 weeks. I'm thinking it will be all better by, um, tomorrow?

#11 Gritty McDuff's Halloween Ale

By Tuesday, it was clear that it was going to be a trying week at work. Luckily, I had a nice evening of drinks planned with some amazing people. Brandon, Jen, Sam C, and I headed down to Cantina to catch up.

Growing up, Brandon (aka Broder- but only I can call him that...) was a typical younger brother. By that I mean that we feuded over everything. On half days in elementary school, we would return home to an empty house for a few hours. My only memories of those days involve intense arguing over everything, from which shows to watch on television to how to correctly microwave a bowl of soup.

Now, though, Broder and I consider ourselves friends. The reason for this change: Beer. Ever since we realized that we both like beer, we've had something to bond over. It's pretty good stuff. Broder is also preparing to get married to a wonderful lady. One reason why Jen is so wonderful is that she makes sure Broder stumbles home safely after a night of sibling bonding.

Anyway, we're at Cantina on a Tuesday evening, with Sam C. Sam C is a great person from high school, who now works with me and Jen (because, it's a small world after all). This is where they've convinced me that I should blog about this beer-adventure, and I've discussed my goals and strategies. After deciding to focus my attention on seasonal brews, I get a Gritty McDuff's Halloween Ale... with cinnamon-sugar on the rim!!!

In any other situation, cinnamon and sugar with a beer sounds absolutely awful. Something about Halloween-flavored beer makes it all okay. In fact, it was better than okay, it was fantastic! Casey Rating: 9 out of 10 points. The beer reminded me of all the things I like about Halloween. It was a little bit spicy, with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg that herald the season of Thanksgiving pies. It was crisp, just like the dry air in the fall that makes leaves turn dead and chaps my lips. The cinnamon-sugared rim made me think of the Halloween candy that children are preparing to obtain and eat until they are sick.

Without the cinnamon-sugar rim, this beer would have been totally fine. The additional sweetness made it great! It had been a long two days of work, and I was in need of a happy moment. Three awesome friends and a beer that tasted like pumpkin pie were perfect for the occasion. Yahoo! for good beer and fantastic people!

The Plan

I can't say that I feel very old. I still get mistaken for a student at some schools. Last year, a mother at Parent Orientation for the program I teach demanded to know my age before I taught her kid. When I tell people that I own a house with my husband, I generally get two reactions. 1) Aren't you too young to own a house, or 2) Aren't you too young to be married.

That being said, I may only be 26, but most of my friends are turning 30-years-old soon. Thirty sounds very, very old to me. I managed to marry my sweetie when he was 29.33. Yet, it's quite possible that I may turn 30 some day too. Sigh.

I have to say, there's a piece of me that is caught up in the meme of 30 before 30. It's comforting to have that final list of youthful, even juvenile, experiences to justify last ditch efforts to act like a fool. Because, as we all know, the minute you turn 30, all you've got is a mortgage and a long to-do list. I'm pretty sure that the world turns black and white like a reverse-Wizard-of-Oz.

I think I decided to write my 30 before 30 list because I'm competitive. If others could write a list, so could I! And gosh-darnit, I'll finish it too!

I could write about my list- Bucket List or Buried Life style, but honestly, most of it's boring. I want to see a moose in Maine, I want to teach my dumb cocker spaniel three new tricks, and I want to finish five quilts. No one wants to hear about those things. And if they do, they need a hobby. Or they need to come to my house and try to teach the dumb cocker spaniel because I'm pretty sure that will be the most difficult task.

I've decided that I should focus this blog on two pieces of my list. The first is to run a half marathon in every state, and maybe Washington DC, and maybe Puerto Rico. The second is my noble quest to try and record 500 different beers.

I am not a runner. Runners like to run, and they get runner's highs. I do not like to run, but I feel a sense of accomplishment when I am done. I will not run all of the states before I turn 30. That would make me dead. I would like to finish 13 more half marathons in the next 3.5 years. I've already finished 4, which I will post about at some point.

I may not be a runner, but I am a beer drinker. Not a connoisseur, mind you. I just like the stuff. A lot. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to post about each of these beers, but I do hope that these posts will always be enjoyable and lucid. Bear with me.

 I went to Maine last weekend. Didn't see a moose.