365 different beers from 365 different breweries in 365 days with random musings on beer, food, music, sports, dogs and anything else interesting along the way
It's football eve! How awesome is that??? And the weather forecast is not going to give me heatstroke so I may actually have fun at the first game of the season for a change! Nice.
Today I'm drinking the Peruvian Morning from Central Waters Brewing Company. Interestingly after checking out their website today, I've learned that they issued a voluntary recall for this beer. It seems that some of the bottles have turned and are revealing an off-taste. Lucky for me, my bottle was just fine.
Brewed in Amherst, Wisconsin, the Peruvian Morning is a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout. I didn't notice the barrel aged part and managed to pour out all the sediment. It was opaque black with a cocoa color head. It smells of bourbon and roasted things...not necessarily coffee or malt, just roasted organic stuff.
The flavor is rich and chocolate and cola. I'm not necessarily finding the bourbon in the taste but there is definitely a boozy warmth. This is a good beer.
The label states that it's made with freshly roasted Emy J's coffee and has flavors of vanilla, tannins, and coffee that meld together to create a flavor as deep as the ravines of the Peruvian Andes. I would agree with that statement wholeheartedly.
Beer #114 Illumination Double IPA / Central Waters Brewing Company, Amherst, WI
You know what makes Mondays better? Knowing that a long weekend is staring at you once you survive the week. I need that right now. Buck a shuck oysters at Teresa's Next Door helps too.
Today's beer, the Illumination DIPA from Central Waters came on draft at TJ's in Paoli. After having some other beers (and wine, and sake...) on Saturday, this one was the last of the evening - which is to say, my review notes are short. This beer pours a hazy, golden orange color and gives off aromas of floral hops. When you take a sip, you get a strong dose of hop bitterness, and notes of pine, orange, and malt. Very dry finish. Can't say I had heard of this brewery before seeing it on draft, but that's what a beer adventure is all about, my friends. I'll definitely look to try some of their other offerings in the future.
Tasty.
Curiously, this beer doesn't appear on Central Waters' website under the active or retired beers, but if you click on their production schedule (handy!), you do see it there. Wonder what that's all about.
Thing to Think About Today:
With the NCAA basketball championship game set to tip off, we've come to the end of the most magical sporting event of the year. Some of the excitement seems to have left the tournament, what with no Cinderellas left standing and the Kentucky rent-a-star team poised to cut down the nets. However, let's stop and think about the one of the greatest Cinderella stories and one of the best movies ever, Hoosiers. Based on a true story, Hoosiers tells the tale of the little school that could, and did, winning a coveted state championship against all odds. If this movie, and the scene below, doesn't give you the chills, you may not be alive.
This movie always brings me back to the days of playing three games in the old Hershey Arena during the march to the PIAA AAAA state title game. Sadly, my story ends without a Jimmy Chitwood-esque rise and fire to win the game for the good guys, but I still cherish the memories of the run to the last game.
