Beer:30... 21st Amendment Lower DeBoom Barleywine.

Yesterday I took out my wife for her birthday lunch at our favorite restaurant in our little burg, Padrino (Check them out here. Not only is their food top notch, but their beer list is one of the best in the Cincinnati area. Anyway, once inside the restaurant, I glanced at the taps and spotted something that I had not seen before. Enter 21st Amendment's Lower DeBoom Barleywine:

If you remember, I first noticed 21st Amendment with their winter seasonal, Fireside Chat (Review here). Definitely a tasty brew, which got me interested in the brand. This beer, however, was completely off of my radar. Here is why:

This beer is part of their "Big Can" series, which basically is a keg only, three times a year or so release of a limited, small batch beer. Luckily, Padrino scored a keg of this monster, here are my thoughts...

The beer pours into your snifter like most barleywines, with a ruby hue, topped off with a decent sized, almost creamy head. Flavor wise, this barleywine delivers. Nice fruity flavors blend with malt goodness and hints of toffee, finishing with a nice bit of alcohol. Easier to drink than Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot, or Anchor Brewing's Old Foghorn. Not knocking those two beers, but this beer is special. The flavors blend so nicely, and more start to show themselves once your glass has warmed a bit. I found myself wanting a second glass, but since it was my wife's birthday lunch I had to refrain, luckily for me since this beer is around 10.5% ABV.

This has been a solid barleywine from 21st Amendment, and one of the best that I have had. This beer ranks up their with Great Divide's Old Ruffian for me when it comes to the style. I will be heading back to Padrino to have some more of this delight. Well done!

Cheers!

Just Riding Along... Day 30.

Hard to believe that this month is coming to a close. With the holidays behind us, now the year is about to move on to the next. This has been a great way to round out the year of 2011, hopefully I can continue this momentum into the new year. I really wonder however, how much I would have ridden this month if we would have had a more "typical" Ohio winter? Would I have ridden as much as I did? Not 100% sure on that one, but this has been a great month for cycling. For tomorrow, it will be a quick morning ride before work.

Spent the afternoon riding into and around Indian Hill. As you can see from the picture above, I was dodging rain with every corner. Today, the planet bike fenders earned their keep on the T500, without them I would have been completely soaked from the wet roadways. It is nice to stay dry while riding the bike. A couple quick downpours during the route, but nothing that my Mountain Hardwear jacket couldn't handle. In the unseasonably warm temperatures, the rain was a little pleasant. I am starting to like riding in the rain, which makes me look forward to this spring. Maybe I will do another month of biking then?

Just Riding Along... Day 29.

Finally, after days of trying, I was out the door in the morning for a bike ride. I have, at least for today, defeated my warm bed. It is nice to get out before the sun, and home just after the sun rises. Unfortunately due to the overcast sky, it was not a pretty sunrise, but still nice to be out and about. Almost 20 miles for the day, which is a great way to start the morning.

Milford Sunflower Classic...

This past weekend was the Milford Sunflower Festival. Main street is shut off from traffic, vendors line the strip, and this year two separate stages were set up for live, local music. It is a festival that I look forward to every year. Before the vendors, live bands, and beer truck, there is first a bicycle race: The Sunflower Classic. It is so nice to see local bicycle racing going through this small town, and even better to see local residents cheering on all of the cyclists. This year was top notch, both the bicycle race and the festival. Congrats and thank you goes out to all of the organizers and volunteers that make this special event happen! Here are some pictures and a quick video of the classic:

For some reason I really like this shot, sure it is blurry, but it just looks neat to me.

And finally, the quick video that I shot. Final race of the evening, 4th place rider hits the pace/support motorcycle. Too bad, the guy was riding well.

VenturePax!

If you have not already, check out the site Venturepax. They are an outdoor social media type site based out of Cincinnati. Very, very cool site, such a good way to check out some outdoor pursuits in your local area. Check it out, and while you are there, check out the little blog posting that I wrote up for their blog: Click here...

Can't wait to really dig into this website, and really start to contribute to some great outdoor adventures!