BREWZ CREWZ 2011 & BEER #800

Lakeland's own beer fest, and not too shabby for it's second year. Approx 65 beers to taste, of which I tried about 40 as near as I can tell. Which brings us to my personal favorite of the night, Palm Belgian Ale, which happens to also be beer #800 on the list of beers that I've tried.

Yeah, life is good...

TORTILLA FACE

And speaking of monsters...

Ryley as Tortilla Face...hahaha!

BOWNESSIE

Found this pic on an English newspaper website. Apparently there's a lake somewhere in England where they've spotted some type of swimming monster 8 times in 5 years. They've dubbed it "Bownessie" in homage to the Loch Ness monster.

See for yourself and judge...

OH OH OH IT'S BONOMO

Turkish Taffy, that is. I used to eat this back in my teens when it was popular. It was hard enough to crack, but soft enough to stretch if you worked at it. Then it disappeared, but now it's back. I found mine at the Vermont Country Store website while looking for some maple hard candy Phyl really liked when we in Canada las year. Found it, too.

So if you were a fan of Bonomo's, it's not cheap, but definitely worth it.

Oh yeah, my favorite is banana (in case you couldn't guess)...

OVER THE GARDEN WALL

by Carol Carnac: Published in 1949, you can certainly tell this was written in a gentler age. No real violence (except off-stage) and everyone is very polite, even the police. Russian spies, theft and murder all blend in in a post-war England. And a nice little twist at the end.

Interestingly, my copy (now for sale on Amazon) was originally part of the lending library of Maas Brothers Dept. Store in Tampa FL.

2 cents a day, 4 cents each day after 14, 5 cent minimum!!

IT WAS 50 YEARS AGO TODAY

It was 50 years ago today that The Beatles played their first gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool - the venue where the band built their reputation and where Beatlemania was born.

RIP: GARY MOORE

Oh, here's a surprise, only 1 year older than me. No cause of death listed yet. Besides his most famous song "Still Got the Blues For You" Gary was known for being in Thin Lizzy back in the day.

Never a big fan of his, I'm still sorry to see him go. Maybe him & Phil can get together and jam once again...

Rock on, Gary, rock on...

IT'S GOOD TO BE WARM (AND SNOW FREE)

See the bottom right; well that's Florida, where I live. See the rest? Well, that's the snowstorm of 2/01/11 covering just about everything else...

Am I glad to live in Florida...you betcha!!!

FEBRUARY BREWERIES

Being my birthday month, here's a list of breweries that opened in Februaries of various years (with thanks to BrookstonBeerBulletin.com)

· Boston Beer Co. (South Boston, Mass.; 1828)

· Berliner Kindl Brauerei (Germany; 1872)

· Rockies Brewing/Boulder Beers (Colorado; 1979)

· Sierra Nevada Brewing (California; 1981)

· Portland Brewery’s Flanders Street Pub founded (Oregon; 1986)

· Catamount Brewing (Vermont; 1987)

· Old Columbia Brewery (California; 1989)

· New England Brewing (Connecticut; 1990)

· Hale’s Ales (Wash.; 1992)

· Old World Brewing (Arizona; 1992)

· Tumbleweed Grille Brewery (NC; 1992)

· Woodstock Brewing (New York; 1992)

· Syracuse Suds Factory (New York; 1993)

· Lagunitas Brewing (California; 1994)

· Randy’s Fun Hunter Restaurant & Brewery (Wisconsin; 1994)

· Bayhawk Ales (Cal.; 1995)

· Beau Ce Broue brewery (Quebec; 1995)

· Browar Belgia (Poland; 1995)

· Draught Horse Pub & Brewery (Texas; 1995)

· Faultline Brewing (California; 1995)

· Flagship Brewery (England; 1995)

· Old Broadway brewery (North Dakota; 1995)

· Trailhead Brewing (Missouri; 1995)

· Triumph Brewing (New Jersey; 1995)

· Bare Bones Grill & Brewery (Maryland; 1996)

· Blue & Gold Brewing (Virginia; 1996)

· Dunedin Brewery (Florida; 1996)

· J.T. Garrison Brewing (California; 1996)

· Main Street Brewing (Texas; 1996)

· Siletz Brewing (Oregon; 1996)

· Treasure Coast Brewing (Florida; 1996)

· Wild Duck Brewery (Oregon; 1996)

· Appalachian Brewing (Pennsylvania; 1997)

· Beowulf Brewing (England; 1997)

· Clocktower Brewing (Canada; 1997)

· Forest City Brewing (Illinois; 1997)

· Kelley Bros. Brewing (California; 1997)

· Mystic River Brewing (Connecticut; 1997)

· Nimbus Brewing (Arizona; 1997)

· North Fork Brewers (Washington; 1997)

· Rio Salado Brewing (Georgia; 1997)

· Seidermann Brewing (Arizona; 1997)

· Southeastern Brewing (South Carolina; 1997)

· Strip Brewing (Pennsylvania; 1997)

· Trout Brooks Brewing (Conneciticut; 1997)

· USA Cafe (Texas; 1997)

· Westwind Brewery (New Mexico; 1997)

· Willoughby Brewing (Ohio; 1997)

· Your Father’s Moustache (New York; 1997)

· Yukon Brewing (Canada; 1997)

· La Lambic du Nord (Canada; 1998)

· Max Lager’s American Grill & Brewery (GA; 1998)

· Silver Gulch Brewing & Bottling (Alaska; 1998)

· Erie Brewing (Pennsylvania; 1999)

· Lightning Boy Brewery (Montana; 1999)

· 5280 Roadhouse & Brewery (Colorado; 1999)

· Mystic Brewpub & Restaurant (Penna.; 2000)

· Spinning Dog Brewery (England; 2000)

RIP: PETE'S WICKED ALES

Gambrinus Discontinues Pete’s Wicked Ales

Wow! What a crappy headline. Apaprently sales aren't high enough for the current owners, so bye-bye Wicked.

Damn shame, I've tried 4 of them - Pete's Wicked Ale, Wicked Red, Wicked Strawberry Blonde' and ESP Lager. So we've got until March 1st (if you can find it, never easy around this neck of the wood) to stock up before they're gone for good.

Hey, maybe Pete'll buy the company back...hey...stranger things have happened!