zoo brew

EDIT: holy hell is it hard to type substantial stuff on the iPad. takes way too long. hm...

was fun! R wound up going because Josh fell ill and gave him his ticket last minute. way more folks i'm acquainted with were there than i expected--we saw Shade, Rick and Betsy, Rachel, Matt and Genie, even an old (Apple loving!) coworker of mine who was there volunteering (manning one of the best tables to boot, Gouden Carolus). and of course D&P. i know i'm forgetting someone too...

the weather was perfect last night and beforehand we hung out at Josh and Molly's with Danika and Mark eating cheese. Molly always gets the best cheese! we had a Dutch gouda--wait is that redundant?--flavored with cumin seeds (yummy, I've come around full tilt like with cilantro, hooray) and a goat cheese that was awesome in an inexplicable sort of way (yes this has been the month o' goat cheese). i brought over the chevre torte i'd made that morning and the leftover slab of citrus berry terrine as kind of an afterthought. after the tasting everyone decided to wind down at D&P's so i brought that stuff over there too and much to my surprise we left with crumbs--awesome, glad I wasn't the only one totally digging the torte (it's definitely a make again, sort of a cross between cheesecake and fairly unsweet crusted coffee cake, where you can really taste the difference the goat cheese makes in a good and smooth way, and it was very easy too). David was contrarian for the sake of getting a laugh as always ("nobody cares about bicycles or France!"), there was train and cat talk, etc. i squirmed with pleasure just from how ideal thr temperature was, dreamy.

looks like both Molly and Dustin and Courtney dig Asian Palace now enough to return. that makes me happy too.

oh oh, i forgot the best part of Zoo Brew, which happened within the first 5 minutes--seeing Genny Cream Ale on the map, exuberantly tasting it before anything else (the pourer noticed my enthusiasm), and realizing that must mean it's available in Memphis now. !!!! and it's summer now too, so it couldn't be more perfect. i am always telling R i have a beer fairy...like me he thought of my Aunt Laurie first (which reminds me of our Mother's Day exchange, where i wished her a happy one and she responded telling me she was sitting in the drive way at cousin Pete's in South Carolina sipping a cold Creamie so yes, it was indeed happy), told me i should tell her, ha. and this week i read Snap and Root are in New Orleans now too...so maybe that's feasible at some point too.

beers tried (i felt cheesy trying some i've already had because they're just that good, but it made it worth it...R was amused noticing the far end, the Belgians, had a tight pour limit while the front section of cheap domestics were filling to the brim). this tasting wasn't as debauched at the end of the night as the wine one (no ladies in high heels flashing their asses this time or getting in fountains), but it was funny to see the atmosphere gradually shift as the night wore on (i swear part of it is the zoo itself, all those flowers blooming in the night and blue floodlights turning on one by one, and yes, the fountains and bridges and bad--or lazy rather, i guess--cover music that makes people wanna dance):

Genesee New York:
Cream Ale (!!!!)

Victory Pennsylvania:
Hop Devil
Hop Wallop (I dug this one)
Prima Pils

North Coast:
Old Rasputin
Brother Thelonious (guy told me it was their answer to citrusy peppery Belgians, my favorite kind of beer generally, so I was happy to try it. wasn't bad but it sure wasn't anything near as good as I hoped given that description)

Woodchuck Vermont:
802 Dark & Dry (normally would never have bothered with this table but David mentioned being interested in the 802 so I went back to give it a whirl. alas, not very good)

Samuel Smith:
Organic Cherry (I think SS is overrated and tend to be wary of fruit beers--disclaimer below, but basically when they're truly delicious they're awesome in the summer, like High Falls' micropub summer fruit beer that time long ago on my 21st birthday...but when they are NOT remarkable they're awful. was hoping this would be one of those exceptions, tried more out of curiosity than anything, but alas no. very sweet. R liked it initally but couldn't finish his sample either.)

England:
Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale (yeah yeah...bummed I didn't have a chance to try Wells Banana Bread, since banana bread-y dunkel weizens are my favorite winter beer)

Stone:
Pale Ale
Arrogant Bastard
Ruination Ale
Sublimely Self Righteous Ale

Unibroue:
Maudite (smells good)
La Fin du Monde (awesome as always)
Trois Pistoles (another preferred one for me)
Don de Dieu

Kasteel:
Rouge
Tripel
Brigand
(bummed I didn't try the Brown Donker)

Hennepin Saison
Rare VOS
Three Philosophers Quad (these didn't live up to the hype, sadly)

a mysterious Scotch Ale I think it was called, in a green label on a tale all on its own at the opening of the Panda Pavilion that isn't listed in the program (the pourer said she'd never heard of it until that night either). wasn't bad, smelled of banana bread, but too sweet for me and after a couple sips that got unbearable. heavy. maybe in winter for dessert it'd be ok.

Delirium Tremens (you already know, it's infamous)
Delirium Nocturnum
Afflegim Blonde (not as good)
Fruli Strawberry (this! this was the winner for the night in terms of being a beer I'd never had, probably wouldn't have thought to try in any other setting than a tasting like this, and was so freaking good. this is a perfect antidote to most crappy fruit beers, where it isn't crazy sweet and doesn't have that cough syrup, artificial saccharine flavor, but just true, tart-berry refreshing summer notes. like the difference between "strawberry" jolly ranchers versus, oh, a small freshly picked real wild strawberry)

Lindemans Belgium:
Kriek (ha, speaking of...we went here for R's sake; I'm well acquainted with all of the Lindemans flavors as they were what I cut my teeth on fresh out of college when I didn't know anything about beer or anything alcoholic. they were like the faux-cultured hipster equivalent of wine coolers. it was neat to revisit in a nostalgic amused way, see how far my palate's come.)
Peche
Pomme
(R might've tried Framboise, which was my favorite back in the day, and Cassis too but he didn't mention it)

Belgium:
Blanche de Bruxelles (good)
Maredsous 8 (this older fella next to me pointed at my cup and said to me "is this your fourth? third then?" uh, i guess he liked it a lot and thought i did too. i'd just overheard him describing it as "crunchy" to the pourer with rapture on his face)
(they also had Corsendonk Pale Ale and Monk's Brown Ale, which I've had before and loved; it always brings back wistful memories of Caspian)

Germany:
Spaten Lager (have had before, nothing to write home about, we were as a group having some on the way out)

some other beers they had that I didn't drink because I'd had them already and knew what I thought of them:
the Ghost River tent (mm Black Magic)
Yazoo Hefeweizen
Yazoo Dos Perros
tons of Abita (I'm on the fence...not bad but not excellent by any means, and often tastes like a gimmick that falls flat, honestly)
Sea Dog's fruity stuff, the blueberry and apricot oned (disappointing! had these multiple times at Raffe's and it's interesting they're not gross in the typical fruit beer sugarbomb way so much as tasting liked they've been made or blended or whatever awkwardly...the beer taste is harsh and almost skunked-level bitter, then there's this very distinct layer of fruit flavor that feels like it's just been lacquered over the beer, no subtle blending or melding of flavors...hard to describe properly)
Harpoon (UFO was my favorite easy to get hefeweizen for a long time here in humid summery Memphis)
Anchor California's table
Chimay (all three colors, oh my...tried at the end of the night after real tastings only to find it all out of course. I mean, it is a huge value and rightly known as some of the best beer in the world)
Duvel
Corsendonk, as mentioned above sigh...at least it's the wrong time of year for it anyway
Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout
Young's Double Chocolate Stout
Murphy's Irish Stout
Moretti Italian Lager (not for me)
Kronenbourg 1664 (ditto)
33 Export Lager (ditto)
San Miguel Lager (ditto)
Singha Lager
Xingu Black Lager
Bosco's table (not bad, not great, always middling to me, much like their bar and food in general)
Newcastle Brown Ale (for people who don't like beer...I admit I'm saying that a little derisively, yeah)
all the fruity Woodchuck Ciders (so help me)
the Sierra Nevada table (not my thing at all)
all the other Genny beers (yick, as bad as Cream Ale is good...weird, like Yuengling's Lager and Black and Tan versus everything else they do that's undrinkable)
the other Spaten beers (again not good or bad)

beers I hate that I missed:
Fuller's Organic Honeydew (!!!! oh my)
Shipyard Old Thumper (yes, just for the name)
more Victory Pennsylvania beers
Rogue's sluttily named ones, just for shits and giggles ('cause seriously, when else would I ever pick up "Chateau OREgasmic Ale"?)
Mendocino California's table (don't know a thing about 'em)
Flying Dog Maryland's table (ditto)

was ok skipping Saranac New York. I feel like I've tried them before long ago and been underwhelmed, but details are hazy.

at the end, R got us barbecue nachos and a soft pretzel, mm.

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