The End. Or...?

Beer/Brewery #366 Lava / Ölvisholt Brugghús, Selfoss, Iceland
Beers to go: 0

There you have it folks, we have officially come to the end of this journey.  During the past 366 days, Marci and I have each drank 366 different beers from 366 different craft breweries.  Bazinga!

Please, hold your applause.

Before we wrap things up, I'd like to thank a few people who have helped in ways great and small.  First, the great restaurants, bars, and bottle shops in my area who make it their mission to make fantastic beers readily available to the public.  Without these fine businesses, there is NO way our blog would have made it this far.  Looking at you, Teresa's Next Door in Wayne, TJ's Everyday in Paoli, Wegmans in Malvern, Whole Foods in Devon, and The Beer Shoppe in Ardmore.  I'd also like to thank our friends who either donated or traded some really interesting beers, so a tip of the hat to Pat C., Mike T., Dr. Liz T., Mike B. and Casey E., and Nathan A., along with anyone else I might be missing here.  Couldn't have done it without you.  It certainly goes without saying that I would like to thank Marci, as I just couldn't imagine how this would have worked without her being along for the ride.  It's nice to have a partner in crime!

Lastly, I'd like to thank you, the readers of this website.  Mostly you're my friends, but there have been an increasing number of people reading this site who I'll never meet in "real life."  We've had hits to this website from around the globe, which always makes me wonder how you found us - although I'm always thankful that you did.  You guys are the best.

Quite frankly, writing this blog has been a tremendously enjoyable activity for me.  I originally went into this endeavor thinking that we'd turn the blog into a best selling book, which would then get turned into a blockbuster movie.  Yeah, so.... about that.  Fame and fortune hasn't happened (yet!), but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.  It wasn't all seashells and balloons, as there were some days where I felt like I had nothing to say, some days where I couldn't quite find the right way to say what I was thinking, and some days where I thought my post was going to be amazing, only to look back and realize it was a small scale dumpster fire.  I guess I'm saying that I've learned I'm not exactly Hemingway when it comes to writing.  Regardless, through it all I've had fun.  Therefore, as Marci has mentioned in her wrap-up post, this blog will continue in the future!!!!  NO, we are NOT doing any further 365 day challenges, but we will continue to use this space to write about craft beer, travel, restaurants, music, sports, dogs, the highs and lows of life, and whatever else seems relevant each day.  One of the challenges of this blog was that in focusing on a new beer from a new brewery each day, we missed many great beers along the way.  Therefore, we'll be going back to try some of the beers we didn't get to, while still searching for new breweries as well.  I hope you continue reading as time goes on, because I'll be terribly sad if you don't.

Today isn't officially in the books until we review beer #366, so let's get on with the show.  We're both closing things out tonight with a bottle of Lava, an imperial stout from Ölvisholt Brugghús, a brewery in Iceland.  Iceland?  Yeah, that's how I roll.  I drink beers from Iceland.   In the glass, this beer dark black color with a sparse tan head.  You get an aroma filled with smoked, toasted malt, and when you take a sip you find a smoky, malt heavy beer.  Sort of a smoked meat kind of flavor happening.  There's some cocoa in there as well, and it has a clean, dry finish.  Not the style I typically choose, but definitely a decent beer.  If you see one on the shelves, pick one up.

Ice(land), Ice(land), baby....

This brewery was founded in 2007, and they currently ship beer to most of Scandinavia, along with the U.S. and Canada.  You may be wondering why this beer is called Lava.  Of course you are.  It's because from the brewery, you can see Hekla, an active volcano, which has erupted as recently as 2000.  Europeans in the Middle Ages called this volcano, "Gateway to Hell."  Not exactly a tourist friendly moniker, I suppose, although the volcano does figure prominently in literature and art, as it has been referenced by writers such as William Blake and Herman Melville.

Thing to Think About Today:
Lots of people have done '365 beers in 365 days' challenges.  Hit Google and you'll find countless variations, some successful, many not.  However, I don't know of any doing 365 beers from 365 different breweries, and I certainly don't know of any married couples out there trying to each accomplish this goal.  Therefore, I can think no better way to close out this phase of the journey than to let Queen wrap up tonight in style with We Are the Champions.  Because we are!

Good night friends, thank you for coming, and please do come back in the future.  Free hugs and cookies if you do!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSTivVclQQ0

"No time for losers, 'cause we are the champions.... of the (craft beer blogging) world"

Beer 366: The Finish Line and Icelandic Lava

Here we are. 366 days later. 282 empty beer bottles later.


One would presume another 84 draft beers later. More for both those counts if you count the “Oops, I already drank this brewery’s sister operation’s beer” beers. There were enough of those that I stopped counting them.

We covered 6,771 miles during the great beer-cation of 2012. There have been countless trips to TJ’s in Paoli and Teresa’s Next Door in Wayne at roughly 6 miles a pop round trip. The one number I don’t know is how much we spent on beer this year. Some things are best left untallied. Let’s just say that I’ve made an economic impact.

There have been quite a few beers from Belgium, Germany and England. But we also covered Australia, Norway, Czech Republic, Peru and in a few sentences…Iceland. We hit 37 U.S. states. California and Pennsylvania were most popular. Some truly amazing beer has been discovered. I did my best to create a Top 25 list, but that fell apart as I fell in love with new styles of beer. My Top 30 list and some honorable mentions are here in this post. Some truly awful beer has been uncovered as well. I’m looking at you, St. Cloud.

But some of the awful ones were macro-brews from exotic lands. How often do you drink beer from Thailand or Peru? I get to say that now, although I won’t be seeking those beers out again.

There was a beer with a label that creeped me out. Yes, Rosee, that’s you.

There was a beer that I bought solely because I geeked out on the typeface on the label. And then I geeked out about it being a good beer. Birra Rossa, check it out.

There was beer that I thought I hated, but realized that I had to have been drinking from skanky taps. Because when Gary had one recently, it was quite good. Westmalle, if you're curious.

This blog started out as a way to channel my energy after the death of my mother. It helped guide me through the loss of a great coach. It helped me deal with the loss of the greatest dog in the world. (Sorry, Sal and Picasso. You guys are a very close second.) It helped me celebrate milestones – amazing achievements at work, a Penn State football team that would not quit. It let me celebrate my friends and the greatest husband in the world. It let me be me and I can’t let that go.

This is a very longwinded way to write that there is life after this 366 day journey. There will be a year two. Mr. Blog Named Brew and I have been debating the rules, because we like rules. OK, because I like rules and he knows to agree with me sometimes.

Year Two Rules:
1. Either Mr. or Mrs. posts every day.
2. Breweries are up for grabs again if we encounter a new beer from them. We’ll even try to keep it organized and link to other posts about that brewery.
3. Finding new breweries will always be our goal.
4. Have fun, travel and see the world. We have big things planned for this one. I can’t wait.

And now, with great satisfaction, I give you Beer 366:

Hailing from Olvisholt Brugghus in Iceland, tonight's beer is the Lava. It is a smoked imperial stout with an ABV of 9.4%. The brewery has an active volcano visible from its front door. They even put an artist's rendering on the label.


It pours pitch black with a dark tan head. It smells very tannic and smoky. This is where I claim it smells like meat and all my meat eating friends roll their eyes. But I swear it smells and even tastes a little meaty. It's chocolatey and malty. There's a lingering smokiness at the finish and just enough bitterness to slow you down to savor it.

This is exactly the kind of crazy-ass beer that should finish out Year One. Unique. Delicious. Excellent.

Cheers!