Alesmith IPA: Nice hoppy IPA from San Diego county. It almost reaches 8% on the ABV level and has some good flavor and color. I have had this beer probably a dozen times, and 10/12 the batch has been solid. I suspect the other two times were when I actually got it from Bevmo and they handled it poorly, too concerned with their gummy worms and wine decanters im sure! But that aside, this is a solid beer, especially on tap it is wicked good. Pretty solid on the malt/hop ratio in comparison to my true favorites, but they nailed the balance. Grade:B to B+

Ballast Point Sculpin has had an epic aura for James and I in our IPA quest over the past year. I have always liked their Bigeye IPA and their Yellowtail Pale but this is on a completely different level for Ballast Point brews. This is apparently a 7% single IPA and in terms of single IPAs it is top 3 without a doubt. It is super fresh and hit you with all kinds of hops but balances with some good citrus flavors and just tastes awesome and is way to drinkable. It also seems they are getting better too, the newest batch I got from James was insane, still have it on my mind from a few weeks ago. Grade: A

This is more of a winter IPA type in my mind, alot like one of my favorite stone beers (Sublimely Self Righteous) which I will have in the next review probably. This is a darker IPA, and with the name 1000IBUS (most Triple IPAs are around 100-120) you would expect a complete hop punch in the mouth. But that didnt happen, this is a european take on American IPA but evidently they arent factoring the California IPAs as much into the “American” part. It has a great hop flavor but it definitely doesnt take a starting role, shares it with some great malts and flavors, and feels great after some hard riding on a gloomy drizzly day. Beware of the $12 price tag, I had to try it and glad I did, but it will be a single occurence purchase for me. Grade: B+

Wine time! Bargain Purchase from traders for $5, this is a pretty young wine for sure and has the taste of young wine to boot. Sarah and I arent really savers or cellar-ers. We have our small wine “fridge” which holds 8 bottles, most have been deemed savers for special occassions so we usually pick up and have them when we are in the mood. This one is a blend of 3 grape, 3/4 petite sirah, the rest half zin and half syrah. I really love the blends and this one was darker purple, inky and had a great smell or “nose.” Had a great light feel and good with lighter dishes and salads but will get drowned out with burgers, meat, and certain pizzas for us.

This wine totally came through. The label caught my eye and then found it was from the Dry Creek Valley (famous for old vine zins especially) and where we spent some of our honeymoon time. This was a nicely spicy one with good fruity flavors backing it up and smoothing it out. One of the top Zins we have ever had!

It was margarita time for us the other night. We blended some of these up with some of the Traders Joes mix, some lime, and some Jose Cuervo Gold. They were awesome and a cool change of pace from our usual wine and beers. We have to do these more too, becuase I could really use the practice on getting these better, I need the secrets! I think one secret would be to pour the Trader Joes mix out and go a different direction for starters, not that good!