Stumblefoot 2.0

A friend was interested in coming to Stumblefoot after having tried their beers somewhere down south, so I came back here for the first time since we moved out of our old neighborhood. Good ol’ Stumblefoot. I remember when a lot of their beer tasted a bit tart, with a distinctive home brew taste.

They have come a long way since then. We’ve continued to come here periodically (for instance, see this previous post), and I definitely notice an unmistakable and continual improvement. They frequently change up their menu, which makes things exciting. This time, my friend suggested the Nelson IPA, which did not disappoint. It was fresh, well-balanced, nice, rounded, with a bitter, hoppy, finish.

I was even convinced into trying a sour or two here. I haven’t developed a taste for sours, but I’ve been wanting to branch out and switch things up. The cherry sour was tart, fruity, not too sweet, and probably a good introduction into sours. The Naughty Leprechaun was a sour porter, which was very interesting indeed.

After a good time at Stumblefoot, we made our way to Arcana, and played a round of Jenga, then to good old Pizza Port.

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Culver Beer Company

I’m going to say the douchiest thing ever: We were here before it was cool. We were pondering what to do on a casual Friday night after happy hour with an ocean view. We didn’t want to get crazy but wanted to do something different, so I did what I always do when I can’t make an instant decision – I started browsing Yelp. I came across 10 (or so) glowing reviews for Culver Brewing on Yelp and the decision was made (there are just a few more now).

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The pale ale was 55 IBU’s, citrusy, wheaty, and a little tart, but overall a decent pale ale. The Culver red was nutty and well-balanced. The Amaretto red was similar in flavor profile to the Culver red, but smooth (nitro). The Strange Ways Saison was quite drinkable, with noticeable and familiar citrus zest flavors, though I think it was a bit nuttier than traditional saisons. Finally, the vanilla stout was probably my favorite – full, smooth, nutty, and quite lovely.

I asked whether they had any IPA’s and the nice lady at the bar said “not yet” – which implies one is coming soon. Overall beers were quite good and all four of us really enjoyed our visit. I can see this place getting really popular very soon.

They played a bunch of fun music, most notable (and random) was Man of Constant Sorry by the Soggy Bottom Boys.

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Home Beer Tasting

We did a home beer tasting the other day, which was super fun. Most beers weren’t new, but it’s still fun to do comparisons even if you’ve had the beer  before. Notably disappointing was the Duvel triple hop. We saw it at BevMo and were excited to try it since we love Duvel, but the triple hop was fairly unremarkable. Other featured beers included Deschutes’ Mirror Pond, Obsidian Stout, and Inversion IPA; Stone’s pale ale, milk stout, Ruination, and IPA; North Coast’s Old Rasputin; Maredsous; New Belgium’s trippel; Lagunitas’s Censored Rich Copper Ale and IPA; Leffe Brune; Port Brewing’s Ponto SIPA and Swami’s IPA; Magic Hat #9 (pale ale); Mississippi Mud; Sierra Nevada’s Five Hop IPA, among others.

We took detailed notes about scents, flavors, and textures, which predictably degenerated into gibberish as the drinking progressed.

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This was the end result:

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This is always a good time, and we threw in a couple of sodas because so my nephew could participate in the tasting (result: I don’t like Hansen’s raspberry soda as much as I thought I did – it’s got a sort of chemically taste, Ramune (marble soda) is as awesome as ever, and sugar free shit unsurprisingly sucks).

Pro-tip I learned from my friends: Get a mystery box from BevMo if you want to try your luck. Apparently BevMo packages “mystery boxes” of random mismatched beers and will sell a case for $18 or so. They guarantee there are no more than 5-6 Coors/Buds in there (gross).

Pro-tip #2: Uber comes in handy even when you’re tasting at home. Have mom drop dad off for fun times and send him home in an Uber. He will be impressed by the technology and convenience.