So you felt like a tough guy when you drank that 10% ABV beer last weekend, huh? I don’t think so. Let’s talk after you try one of the beers in this article. They range from 20% to 60% ABV. No, that is not a typo, there is a beer that is 120 proof. And yes, there is also a beer that comes in a bottle covered in a roadkill coozy.
Luckily most of them are exorbitantly expensive so us mere mortals won’t ever get (have) to try them.
Enjoy!
We have a new Instagram account at http://instagram.com/tasty_takes. Come check us out!
Some friends left a couple bottles of New Belgium 1554 in the fridge last week, and man I had forgotten how much I like that beer! For some reason I never buy it, but it’s right up my alley, dark, not bitter and drinkable.
This past weekend Aimee and I headed down to the Gunnison west of Gunnison for some serious trout fishing. We figured it would be a good place to take George since there is plenty of shade and not too many people. I also brought some 1554. It was supposed to be warm and kicking back with a cold beer while George relaxed, ate or played sounded like the ticket!
The day turned out to be incredible, the fish were biting, the beer was tasty and George had a great day.
Later that night Aimee was stuck in a meeting so George and I put together dinner. Nothing fits father son bonding like burgers and corn on the grill!
Overall 1554 is smooth, drinkable and a darn good dark summer beer. Next time I’ll try to remember how much I like it.
Appearance: A very dark amber, clear but dark enough that you can’t see through it. Small cream/tan colored head that dissipated quickly to about 1/8 inch and then remained. Nice lacing on the glass.
Smell: Slightly sweet and toasty. Not a strong smelling beer.
Taste/Mouthfeel: Starts slightly bitter, has a nice toasty malt middle with a very slightly bitter aftertaste. Not super complicated.
Overall: An easy drinking sessionable black lager. If your looking for something besides the typical lager in the heat of summer grab a 1554, it’s tasty and refreshing.
4 out of a Six Pack Scale©
Stats:
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 21
Calories: 198
Yeast: Lager Yeast
Hops: Target
Malts: Pale, Carapils, Black, Munich, Chocolate
The first time I met Mike he was fishing for bull trout on the Metolious River in Central Oregon with Chris. Rather than each of them taking a spot on the river and fishing independently, they were fishing one at a time and sharing the water. They netted for each other, tied up different rigs, and spotted feeding fish. Even when they both had rods in their hands they stayed within easy talking distance of one another and didn’t hesitate to pick up their lines if one of them had a fish on.
Mike caught it. Chris put it in the net.
Later when I joined them both for a day on the water they worked me into the rotation. It was a different approach than much of the fishing I’d done with people in the past where we’d go to the river together but then split up, maybe keeping each other in sight, but rarely working a run together. Mike and Chris’s approach was much, much better.
Mike caught this fish. I just netted it.
After Chris moved to Vermont, I became Mike’s primary fishing partner. We split time equally between fishing one at a time, and dividing up the river. Sometimes this meant we would work our way up opposite banks at the same pace, other times one of us would start at the tail of a run and one at the front. This way we could still both be fishing our own rods and water, but also be taking part in the other person’s experience. The only thing that can really beat watching your fishing buddy catch a beautiful trout is catching one yourself, and sometimes not even that.
This was a reverse. I caught it. Mike and George handled the net. It’s a group effort.
Now that we’ve added George into the mix Mike and I stay closer together than ever on the river. Usually we’ll fish two rods, but sometimes just one, and whoever is not wearing George in the pack usually takes over most of the netting, tying and releasing duties (it’s really hard to see what you’re doing upclose when you have the Ergo on). It’s maybe not the most efficient system, but diving into the river to net a huge trout for Mike while he simultaneously keeps his line tight and George happy isn’t something I’d give up for anything.
The pack works great, but it can be tricky to unhook fish/tie on flies/jump in the river with it on.
Not really. Well kind of I guess, I mainly just wanted to get everyone’s attention. Last weekend we spent both days on the Taylor. Saturday was abridged due to George having a mental breakdown. Not really. He just didn’t want to be in the pack anymore.
I know its blurry but the look on George’s face was priceless!
On Sunday Aimee and George landed the fish of the day, a beautiful rainbow.
I wanted to title this post “The worst beer you’ve never tried” but I just couldn’t do it. There could be worse beers out there. And there might be people that actually love Chili Beer. I am definitely not one of them.
So. I like beer, I really do. Those of you who read this blog (cue crickets in the background) know that I don’t prefer pale ales, india pale ales and very hoppy beers. Generally I like lagers. They are easy to drink, and delicious after a long summer day on the water. This review is about a lager that I do not like. This review is about Cave Creek Chili Beer.
Aimee and I are determined to keep fishing, exercising and getting out even though, and often because, we have an infant to take care of. Our solution so far has been just to bring George along. Aimee will run with him in the Chariot, he will hang out in the pack for fishing or when we have to head to the bar to watch some World Cup soccer, but so far all of our outings have been pretty short. We are still learning how to take care of a baby, and are slowly figuring out what he needs in order to get in some longer trips.
This past Saturday we loaded up the truck, plopped George in the car seat and headed out to the Dark Canyon Trail. Aimee had never been there and although the fishing can be questionable the scenery is always incredible. We figured that even if the fishing was terrible we would get in a decent hike with the boy.
The day was awesome. The fishing was fair, but the weather was perfect and George couldn’t have had more fun. While Aimee and I were picking up browns, rainbows and cutthroats on dries and small droppers he was sleeping in the pack, munching lunch and chilling on his blanket. He seemed to really like being outside and taking in the sights.
All in all we were out of the house for more than eight hours, out on the trail and water for six-plus hours and the boy loved every minute of it. (Well…. maybe not every minute – he still doesn’t appreciate the fact that he has to get burped after eating.)
Here’s to more adventures with the little man!
This winter I tied flies. I wouldn’t say that I was a tying machine, I don’t tie very fast and overall I didn’t produce as many flies as I’d like, but I tied a bunch of flies. That is good for me since I am normally a 100% need based tier. I will wait until I desperately need a fly before tying a bunch, but this winter I got ahead of the game, at least a little. Copper Johns, Rubber Legs, Pheasant Tails, Midges, Prince Nymphs – all in different sizes and colors. Most of the time I managed at least a half dozen of each fly for Aimee and me.
Now I have a 10 week old boy. You’d think that I would have ample time to continue tying, but so far it has been a struggle. The fly that you see below is a micro-mayfly that I started 3 weeks ago. We are deep into floating season and this spring I bought all the material to tie chubby chernobyls, but to date I haven’t even started one.
I have time to tie. In fact I have lots of chunks of 30 minutes or so throughout the day, the issue is that I tie really slowly, so it takes some serious psych up for me to sit down at the vise, and most of the time lately I’d rather either fish or sleep!
But a couple of days ago we were at a local lake that we knew had carp. I hadn’t ever seen them feed, but while we were there it was a carp feeding frenzy! Those babies have to be 20+lbs so we came home did a little research and I got psyched enough to tie up these babies! We’ll probably get skunked, but it was fun to learn a new pattern and it’ll be exciting to chuck flies at huge fish!
Hopefully Aimee and I can get back on the tying wagon for good and bring out some new fly-tying videos. If anyone would like to see a specific pattern tied please let us know!
The guys over a Vagabond Fly filmed a tying session where each tier took 100 shots of craft beer. This is only a trailer, but the final product should be interesting. I’m not sure I’d still be at the table after 100 shots of craft beer, I’d probably be under the table, making calls on the big white phone, or laying in the bushes! Love to see the last fly that each of them tied!
