Deschutes Black Butte Porter XXIII

I went to The Lake Flying Saucer just to try this beer. It comes in a wax dipped 22 ounce bottle and is 10.8% ABV. The label reads: "Black Butte XXIII: Porter brewed with cocoa nibs, orange and natural flavor added with 25% aged in Bourbon Barrels." This is one rich beer! The dark roast flavor is up front and then you get the orange. They claim to have chiles in here and if you know me, I don't get essences of or hints of. So, sadly, I didn't get that, but I was LOVING me some of this beer.

On the side of the bottle it says, "Best After: 6/15/12". This beer can get better? WOW!

The only downside was the $22 price tag at the Flying Saucer, but I don't regret the purchase one bit.

And There Was Much Rejoicing!!!

Spec’s liquor and food chain heading to Dallas




Spec’s Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods, a Houston-based family-run business since 1962, confirmed Thursday that it’s planning to enter the Dallas market.

The chain of 93 stores has a goal of being statewide by the end of this year, “and the only way to do that is to include Dallas,” said Lisa Rydman Key, vice president of marketing. “We’ve been asked for years by our customers who moved to Dallas to open a store there.”

North Texas voters eliminated beer and wine boundaries in last year’s election, which made coming into the market “more doable,” she said.

Several grocery stores and convenience stores in previously dry areas of Dallas have added beer and wine since the law changed, including Kroger and 7-Eleven. Several liquor stores operate in the Dallas market, including the area’s largest chain, Centennial Fine Wine and Spirits. California-based specialty food store Trader Joe’s is looking in the Dallas area but also hasn’t announced its first location.

Initially, Spec’s plans two to three Dallas-area stores, Key said. “We’re in the midst of lease negotiations and hope to have a store open by the end of the year.”

Store sizes vary, with Spec’s smaller stores occupying about 8,000 square feet. Its flagship Houston store is its biggest at 80,000 square feet. The size depends on the products stocked at each location, said Key, a third-generation family member and an alumnus of Dallas’ Southern Methodist University.

“We have 35,000 products and 15,000 to 16,000 are just wine, but we’re also known for our huge food selection,” she said. “There’s plenty of room in Dallas for another liquor company, and what we offer is
different.”

Spec’s has been expanding rapidly. “Three weeks ago, we opened in El Paso , next week Killeen and late August in Georgetown. We’re looking for a second San Antonio store,” Key said.

Life is AWESOME!!!  (ooo Trader Joe's too!!)

Allagash Brewery

So, this brewery WASN'T a bust, but I didn't get the love :(

We found the brewery and there were signs indicating retail and tours. There were people moving inside the retail store. When I went in and asked about a tour, I was told tours were at 11, 1 & 3 and sadly, it was about 5:15. I explained that I had come all the way from Texas through Labrador, Canada and I still got no loving.

But, the retail space was open and the young woman told me about the new beer they had just bottled called Curieux. It is their trippel that has been aged in a oak bourbon barrel. It comes in at 11% ABV. It is what you might expect. It is a trippel for Christ sake and would be a fine beer on it's own. But for some reason, aging them in oak bourbon barrels just adds a special something to them.

Because I am in a hotel room, I am enjoying this fine beer from a plastic cup and yet, it is still a fine beer.

If I was in a car, I would have loaded up on Allagash beers, but given I am on the motorcycle, you guys get no loving either ... sorry :(