Obviously I am no beer snob or wine connoisseur by any means (most limiting would be actual means $$) or I would be! I thought I would share some beers and wine I have been sampling lately. I have been totally procrastinating on this for the last couple months, but want to make it a somewhat “regular” feature on my blog here. Other than offering up some of my riding adventures and racing stuff, maybe I’ll share some of my brewsies and so on which are really the carrot at the end of the stick for some of those rides! I will spare everyone the “tastes like eden berries with soft hints of walnuts and a soft eden cheese” snobby reviews.

I like good beers, fresh beers, with lots of hops and good flave. James knows what this is all about too, we share alot of the same tastes in brews. Thanks to James pointing this out to me as well, I have also been checking out an awesome beer blog called the hopry, this guy is the MAN and reviews all sorts of beers and does an awesome down to earth job with it. Also, a blogger friend who is a little more daring than I just started a brew blog of reviews and homebrew stuff, check it.
I had this beer last year and didn’t really impress me. Hop 15 sounds ridiculous, and still lives up to the hyper of a name for me. What I expected was a really hoppy explosion but instead got a little more balanced taste. With a nice local SoCal brew it has that freshness not found in many places. Really good but I give it a B+.

Can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this beer formally, although it really doesn’t need a guy like me reviewing it, it speaks for itself. World renowned for a pure Hop and all 110% pure fresh hoppy bomb, this is it. So many rides and races have been powered by the pliny. Difficult to find for many including myself, I cherish everytime I am able to score this beer. 500ml and a true pint, always fresh and never has once let me down. There isnt much to say other than if you want the best of the best and youre a true hop fan, this is an A+ to the max!

Generous buddy James supplied me with a couple of these bad boys and I basically cradled them like newborns until I poured them into a glass. This beer is RIDICULOUS! Has a real amazing hop kick from the start, notch below pliny in terms of pure hops, and adds a hint of honey. But oh so fresh tasting, I cant even imagine what it would be like on draft, it would be the end of me. This beer was top notch, only real east coast beer that met my expectations, and really exceeded them to be honest. Grade of A

I am going to grade these both together. Obviously not the same brew at all but I cant remember and totally distinguish (honesty is the best policy). Trying these thanks to James and Toby. Got these from James when we all raced the Whiskey out in Arizona, got home and put these to work during the week following the race. Drink it fresh! They did not dissapoint, I loved them both, but the true winner from Alpine Brewing Co. was the Nelson which is a Rye IPA. Boy do I really love my Rye IPA’s. Between Bootlegger’s Rustic Rye and the Nelson, well…..the Nelson totally wins because its the best Rye IPA I have ever had, totally awesome. Alpine has it going on for sure, all their beers are the real deal and they are definitely in touch with their hop-linity! Duet and Pure Hoppiness B+ and Nelson gets an A-

Got to get a wine post in here, because Sarah and I really love some wine every week or two (we were married in wine country, at a winery after-all). This is the second bottle of Sofa-kind-bueno we have popped and it was solid. Great with a fat Ribeye and Asparagus and red pots. The total american meal except we are substituing nasty beer or cocktails with this amazing wine from Central California Coast/Paso Robles. Even without the totally creative name it would still be an amazing wine, these guys know how to back their stuff up for sure.